The Pines Golf Course & Whangarei continued

On Thursday we only had to drive down the hill from the peaceful (apart from the neighbours barking dogs) NZMCA park to the picturesque Pines Golf Club at Parua Bay for a game. This is a great course with its wonderful views of the harbour and Whangarei Heads, streams, tidal ponds, mangroves with herons and many pukeko, tree-studded fairways and ----drains. The fairways are green and in good condition with the greens just right - not too fast and not too slow. I must have been too busy admiring the views rather than concentrating on my shots though as my score didn't reflect my enjoyment despite not doing many putts. I can recommend playing on this course though if you're up this way - the green fees are only $25 for affiliated players which is much better value than the rough Waipu course at $40.

Across the golf course and the bay to Manaia

The only downside for us was that there were no showers and after each of us having one in the bus we have run out of water for the first time since being on the road. We've used up our big freshwater bottle as well so only have our little drink bottles left until we dump our grey waste and hopefully fill up with fresh water at Caltex which we have been told you can do if you spend more than $50.

Last night we had a nice creamy Kilkenny for Len and a wine for me at McMorrisseys Irish Pub which has lots of character and a convivial feel and is owned by a friend's sister and brother-in-law. This gave us the yearning for a curry so we wandered down the road to the Shiraz Indian Restaurant, a popular place and rightly so. We really enjoyed both our curries - the best we have had for a while. Then it was a short walk back to the RSA where we again parked for the night - it is so handy to town and both times we have been the only ones here.
From here we are heading around the Tutukaka Coast - the forecast is for showers today and rain for at least the next 2 days. However we have been so fortunate with the weather so far and who would know it wasn't still summer! There may not be much reception around the next part of the trip so the blog might not get published for a few days.