Whangaruru South beach

The rain eased off a bit as we did a little tiki-touring around the coastline on our way to Tutukaka, to Church, Kowharewa and Pacific Bays before continuing on to Tutukaka itself which I remember well from our last visit - lots of yachts parked in the marina but very quiet at this time of the year with hardly a soul about. We saw 2 moving cars but no people! After having a cup of coffee in the car park we drove on past Matapouri, Woolleys Bay and Sandy Bay, Len thinking that he might try a spot of fishing at one of these spots but the weather wasn't the best, the sea rough and the tide was wrong so on we went to Hikurangi even though these are all beautiful coastal beaches. We drove into the golf course which was very wet with the rain still falling lightly and of course it was deserted. The course, an 18 holer, is one of those set in the hills with the fairways mostly sloping sideways -not good Feng Shui for me and hard for the golf shots. We didn't feel the urge to stay around sad little Hikurangi for the weather to clear.

Prime spot on an empty camp site!

Senior moment - can't remember where I parked mine!

We decided to take the Russell Road towards Russell, a quiet drive through the hills and bush, reminiscent of the Coromandel road, to Oakura, a lovely spot at the entrance toWhangaruru Harbour - very sleepy at this time of the year with all the holiday-makers having gone home and the sole dairy-come-fish & chip shop only being open from Thursday to Sundays in winter.
Round the corner and over the hill is the tiny beach settlement at Whangaruru South where we are parked in the lovely camping ground right on the waters edge - there is no internet or cellphone connection but we have facilties and power, the winter rate for us being $30 a night. We are the only vehicle in the camping ground - there is a motorhome parked up by the cabins but it looks like the man might be working here doing some renovations.

Strolling along Whangaruru beach

When we arrived, about 4.00pm, there was a slight break in the weather so we walked north along the beach as far as we could past a lot of very respectable beach houses and baches which are only accessible from the road we came down. Hence their access is along the beach which means they are probably cut off at high tide unless they don't mind the salt water on their vehicle - that's what it looks like to us anyway! Most of the houses seem to be closed up at the moment everyone having gone home now the school holidays are over.
The exciting news of the day, or rather night, is that after we got back from our walk, at dusk and just before high tide Len took his fishing rod down to the beach at about the same time that the rain started pouring down and the wind was very strong. I was expecting him to return in no time, but no - the fish were biting and he came back soaking wet in the dark proudly holding 2 fish caught on his just-bought Bonito bait - a kahawai and a snapper (schnapper if you want to be politically correct!)! They're not the biggest ones we've seen but his luck has begun! There'll be no stopping him now!
We had a wild night weatherwise with rain and strong winds. Today, Thursday, is a little brighter but still windy with fast moving clouds and showers predicted. We are going to find another fishing spot or 2 as we wend our way towards Russell.