Fairview Golf Club & Tanners Point

Friday 15th November after our arrival back from Sydney and a couple of nights staying at the Mount Camp we headed up the inner harbour again in Debussy this time stopping at Fairview Golf Club for a round of golf on the quiet course which we have only played on once before but is one of my favourites as it is where I got my best 18 hole score ever and it was playing in a tournament. I did quite well again this time too considering I am a little rusty! We especially enjoy the first 9 holes of this course with its undulations, water features and an increasing number of  houses overlooking the fairways. We do wonder who designed the back nine though as it is rather boring with not much of interest - perhaps they'll work on some improvements there at some stage.

Nick, the excellent golf pro there, who used to be at Omanu and whom I had had some lessons from way back, was happy for us to stay overnight in the car park which was handy as it was getting towards dark by the time we finished our round.

On Saturday morning we once again admired the murals in Katikati before meandering along the Yeoman Walkway, a gem of a bird walk alongside the Uretara Estuary. This is a fantastic tranquil area of river, saltmarsh and estuary so close to the town and with lots of varied bird life and interesting sculptures, the locals having put in a lot of hours developing and landscaping it. We did a circular route coming back to Debussy via the roads - from memory I think it took us nearly a couple of hours although the estuary walk itself is described as 45 minutes. It is worth taking a trip out fromTauranga, or beyond, to experience it.

We spent the night in the car park / boat launching area at Tanners Point, a pretty little spot with very vocal birdlife, where up to 3 vehicles are allowed to stay overnight though we were the only ones there. After arriving, and Len wishing he had brought some bait so he could have fished off the wharf, we walked around the picturesque estuary walking track which has been developed by some hard working locals one of whom, Heather ( a fellow NZMCA member), we got talking to in front of her house. It wasn't long before she invited us to join her for a cuppa on her deck which we graciously accepted as we had worked up a thirst by then as well as it being good to talk to one of the locals.

Coming home on the Sunday we had a brief stop at Kauri Point where there is a very very long wharf which could be good for fishing off into the channel. Then of course there was the compulsory stop for the delicious local oranges and avocados from the roadside stalls!

Sydney to Auckland

We arrived back into Auckland on an Air NZ flight about 11.30pm with the intention of picking the car straight up from the airport long term car park and driving back to the Mount where Debussy had been parked, plugged in, for just $10 a night while we were away. This was great as it meant I didn't have to empty the fridge before we left and we expected to be able to climb into bed about 2.30am which Sydney time was 12.30am so not as late as it sounds.
However we were not off to the flying start that we expected as when we got to the ticket gate where Len needed to insert the credit card that he had booked the parking space with so we could exit the car park lo and behold the said credit card which he insisted had been in his trouser pocket right through the flight, ready for a quick insert and exit was no longer there!! Had it fallen out on the plane?? in the airport toilet?? or been pickpocketted in the jostling customs queue?? Perhaps we could find out if they had found it on the plane??
Yeah, right! -- We went from the Air NZ help desk to the baggage area to the check-in area to the customs pick up area to the lost baggage area (no one home) to the help desk to another airlines lost baggage area who would arouse someone from the Air NZ lost baggage area where we waited and waited and waited - do you get the picture yet??!! The minutes were ticking by ----------

I had asked Len early on in the process if I could have the ticket folder to check if the lost card had somehow got in there but was assured that there was no way it could be as it was always in his pocket. But the wait for a person to appear was excruciatingly long and after ruminating and  pontificating on how we would need to cancel the credit card and ring for help to get out of the carpark, for something else to do, I just had to rummage in the bag to check the folder where I removed paper tickets, boarding passes and passports one at a time to see the most joyous sight of a credit card half falling out the inside of a passport. You will have no idea just how that felt!! Such a beautiful sight!

No need to wait in the open air outside that office any longer - we practically skipped and whoopeed our way back to the booth for our exit ticket trying not to even bother too much about the extra $25 we were charged because we had gone a couple of hours over our exit time!!

When Len had time to recollect his thoughts he could vaguely remember that when his bag got stuck on the runners coming out of the Xray machine he had shoved the passports quickly into his pocket while he grabbed the bag. And guess what had found it's cosy way between the passport pages!!

Anyway we had a safe and quiet drive home apart from one instance when the hoon alongside us on the motorway seemed to be itching to have a drag race with us - bit scary! It was about 4.15am before our heads hit the pillows but at least all was well!