Houhoura Heads Part 2

Wednesday we crossed the estuary (up to our thighs) and walked to the harbour entrance in search of the big snapper. It was cold and windy and the black clouds were rolling speedily towards us so after about an hour of trying to keep warm and only seeing Len catch a little kahawai for bait I decided to head home to the bus. Len wasn't far behind and was drenched with rain by the time he was halfway back.

Camera angle makes fish look small!

The rest of the day was only suitable for reading and a very long game of 500. I was pleased I had done a big wash on Tuesday as it had dried nicely in the sun and wind.
Yesterday it was time to move on though we had thoroughly enjoyed our quiet late autumn 4 night stay at the Houhora Heads Holiday Park which nestles in beside the historic Wagener Park and Subritzky homestead which was built in 1862. We are not going any further north as we went to Cape Reinga and did the bus trip down ninety mile beach 5-6 years ago and can remember it reasonably well.
The people we have met up here have all been very friendly and we have found amazing bargains in the fruit stalls on the side of the road, the best being the bag of 6 avocados for $2 as at the moment in the shops up here they are around the $3 mark EACH. Yesterday we also bought a big bag of nice mandarins for $5.

The bargain of the week!

From Houhora we retraced our steps back to Whangaroa Golf Club.
We enjoyed the course and I got my money's worth by hitting the ball lots of times which is the norm fot me lately! It's hilly with curves, trees, streams, long wooden bridges and flat, kind bunkers. The most difficult tee-off for ladies was one over 2 streams and too narrow a strip between to even think of laying-up. By a miracle my ball flew into the far bank with enough velocity to skip up and onto the fairway. Len's tee was much further back but of course he cleared both streams easily. We were caught by a squally shower on the 14th and having no players in front or behind were able to shelter under the trees for a while. There had been big black clouds racing overhead all day but just brief strong showers occasionally so we were very lucky to just get the one.

Our pleasant night stop

Aterwards we enjoyed having a craic at the 19th with 7-8 fellows who had played in the scramble earlier, one of the men who owns Doubtless Bay Lodge, having been a member at our club, Omanu, before he moved north 9 years ago. The club only has about 200 members but the course is very well maintained and they have a new clubhouse with lovely amenities. We were made very welcome to stay the night and they left the amenities open for us all night even though we didn't need to use them once showered after the game.

Today, Friday, is lovely and sunny with wispy white clouds and we are about to set to Mangonui for some groceries before heading to Taupo Bay, which is in Whangaroa Bay, to meet up with Pete & Sue at their bach. We're told cellphone and internet coverage is sparse out there but at least I am up to date with the blog now!