Tauranga Bay

After retracing our steps we soon found pretty Te Ngaere Bay, where we had been told that it would be OK to park on the roadside there in front of the holiday houses but given that there were "no motorhomes and no camping signs" along the beach edge we decided to travel on further to Tauranga Bay Holiday Park which is at the southern tip of the Whangaroa Harbour and what a beautiful spot it is! It's owned by Eric Rush's (of All Black fame) family and we are parked right on the beachfront with about 10 other vans, the high tide waves crashing just a few feet from us as I write this and great views along the rugged coast and out to Stephenson Island.

Did that tip move?

Len got the surfcasting rod out soon after we got here later yesterday afternoon and joined about 5 other fisherman spread out along the beach. Ross, from Waihi, who is in the bus next to us and spends about 4 months here each winter has a motorised longline, with 35 hooks, which goes out a long way. Len, wait for it(!), was chuffed to catch 5 kahawai, 2 of them at the same time, on his rod and was expecting Ross to pull in lots of fish on his longline but he only got one! Unbelievable really. I have say though that all the fish ( including Ross's) were small but the 3 biggest are going to provide good bait for todays fishing although the fishing calendar tells us that tomorrow evening will be the best time. I'll keep you posted! Len and Ross are both going out now to try their luck again, both with surfcasters, but the sea looks pretty rough and there is quite a lot of weed about.

Sunset & still catching!