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!

Sydney 2

Sydney 2
Well, enough said about the Sydney transport system which we have always found great (cry your heart out Auckland!) - we just need to sort out our concession ticket confusion!
Unfortunately the ferry wharf at Cabarita, which is an easy stroll from Dave and Christines, was closed for maintenance for the first few days so we had to get the bus to the train station for our travels rather than getting into the city quickly by ferry, but it was open again by the weekend.

We had a lovely 5 days with Dave and Christine and the 3 'children' - Pants, Fanta and Peppermint, being spoilt with a couple of lunches out - Icebergs at Bondi Beach where we had joined the throngs of people walking in the incredible heat between Bondi and Bronte to view the amazing Sculptures which had been on display for the past week, and a nice restaurant close to the Museum of Contemporary Art which we visited on the western edge of Circular Quay.

On our second night there we met up with Sandy, my old friend, flatmate and bridesmaid from student days at her lovely terrace house in Bondi, wandering into the village after a few tipples for a nice Japanese meal and lots of chatter to catch up on the last couple of years since we had met up in a similar manner. Always good to catch up with young "old" friends!

We enjoyed a bit of walking at Manly, around the Botanical Gardens, Cabarita and Breakfast Point amongst other things before heading off on Sunday afternoon to my niece Debra and Danny's and family, at Gordon, Killara for the last 2 nights before flying home. Their house is in a lovely setting amongst Australian bush and trees. Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for parched Sydney with it's nearby bush fires, the very hot and sunny weather ceased and it rained for those two days but we were happy to laze about doing some local walks, puzzles, scrabble etc while everyone else was either working, at school or preparing for the school ball (Oh to be 17 again, not that I actually want to be!!) And it was so special to catch up with all the family as they landed at home again each evening.

Sydney 1

Saturday 23rd November. Our blogs have been few and far between lately with living a "more normal" life, still in the bus, but closer to home with excursions generally being more local - up the inner harbour for example - as we get closer to returning to our house on Sunday 1st December. In between times, from the 5th - 12th November, we had a lovely week in Sydney staying 5 nights with David and Christine at Cabarita and then a couple of nights with my niece, Debra, Danny and family at Killara. You can buy MyMulti 1,2 or 3 weekly travel passes for trains, ferry and buses around Sydney and after studying the map to get the most suitable one for the places we wanted to travel we bought MyMulti 2 passes, mine a concession at half price and even though the girl in the shop thought Len should have a concession one too we decided that might be pushing it, not being sure of the age for a pension pass in Aussie. Anyway we travelled happily around Sydney with our passes until we tried to go to Manly on the ferry when it said we had invalid tickets when we inserted them into the slot at the gate - it seems like you need a Multi 3 but, without elaborating any further apart from saying that there were pushing crowds behind us, we were through the gates before we even had time to think about it. Its a nice trip out there on the ferry but we decided to return to Daves via buses and trains which was probably a bit of a mistake with the whole journey taking nearly 3 hours - so much traffic! The trains and ferries in Sydney are wonderful however - so quick and easy. Our next awakening regarding the travel passes was when we arrived at the airport on departure and found that our cards wouldn't work at the airport gate. It seems you need to buy a separate gate access ticket at about $12.50 each which you can do at the nearby kiosk and is no problem except that the lady in the kiosk saw my concession ticket and asked how I had one of those. Replying that I was a Senior she told me that weekly concession tickets are only available to students and I was lucky that I hadn't been given a $200 fine! Seniors concessions are only available for day passes and then you need to show your NSW Pension Card as proof - they are not available to kiwis! You live and learn and I guess we would be wise to follow the rules next time!

Labour Weekend 3

After visiting Rachael and Antoine and hoping that we didn't hold up the process of laying the wood laminate flooring in the dining room of their new house too much (though Len did help with a couple) we headed back to our section in Whakatane where, after disrupting the car parking again, we had a late afternoon walk, along the way stumbling across a loud blues band playing in the bar / restaurant called The Office. We sat and had a beer alongside a tableful of  "old groupies" who must have been there all afternoon, one of them especially the worse for wear and hardly able to stand up. When she tried to dance I was very protective of myself and my drink being aware that I could be fallen upon at any moment!
The band was winding up for the day as we finished our beer so on the way home we bought some fish and chips for dinner from our local shop. Last time we had them they had been amazingly good with a very light herby batter but this time we were disappointed - that will cure us for a while from having them again!

Hurry through boats-there's fish to be caught!

The next morning we drove down to the Heads although they are within easy walking distance from our section. Len put his fishing line in and within an hour had 2 snapper and a kahawai so now he knows that he'll never need to go far from home to get a fish once we're living there! It was all very exciting and Len in his exuberance in reeling one in managed to hit me fair and square on the head with the hooked fish! How he did that I don't know - must have been funny to watch!

The Catch!

From there we headed back to Tauranga but stopped for the night at the motorhome park at Otamarakau right by the beach at the Tauranga end of the Matata straights. We've often seen vehicles parked here but didn't realise how orderly the area is with it's little drive and mown sites all marked. There are no facilities but a caretaker lives on site and charges only $5 a van a night. The only downside is that it is right beside the railway line and the noise is quite deafening when the freight trains go by - only a couple through the night though. Also we gather there is a bit of a security problem there with a group of Maoris always looking to target something to steal. Last week they stole a quad bike which had been sitting right beside the owner's motorhome. They must have pushed it out the gate and loaded it onto a trailer and nobody heard a thing!

Labour Weekend 2

We had a very peaceful night and it was lovely to wake to the birds chorus and the sun trying to come over the hill - this time of the year it seems to be about 8.30am before the section is filled with rays but once we've got it we've got it for the whole day.

Prime position overlooking Ohiwa harbour

Recently they have allowed 5 motorhomes to park overnight for 2 nights at the Ohope Reserve right down the end of Harbour road on the edge of the harbour so this was our destination on Saturday, hoping that there weren't already 5 there. No need to worry as we were the first - just quite a lot of cars and boat trailers as it was another nice sunny day although quite windy and difficult to find shelter. We easily found a nice spot to park right on the harbour's edge and Len immediately set off down towards the estuary entrance, about a 15 minute walk, to do a spot of fishing. After completing a few chores I joined him with my Listener magazine and towel, enjoying the sun and shelter from the wind as lots of little fish kept nibbling Len's bait away until there was no longer any more to put on his hooks. On getting back to the bus we found we had been joined, much further down the park by 2 other motorhomes with a caravan also arriving towards evening. Obviously not many people know about this park yet as it is so new and not in our Motorhome directory yet. Over summer I'm sure there will be hot competition for the 5 spaces!

Ohiwa Harbour entrance & Ohope as a backdrop!

Sunday we drove around the harbour to Ohiwa where we did the circular walk starting from the motor camp and going up and around the hill giving spectacular views out to White Island, Whale Island and Ohope although it was a little hazy. We suspect that might be because of the smoke coming over the Tasman Sea from the vast bushfires raging inland from Sydney at the moment.


We could also have walked down into Bryans Bay, probably an even better walk, but that will be for next time now!
The plan then was to try some more fishing on that side of the harbour but the wind made conditions rather unpleasant so instead we headed back to Ohope where we enjoyed catching up with our friends, Rachael and Antoine, who are just about to move into their lovely new house close to the beach.

Labour Weekend - Whakatane

Labour weekend was a good time to do another little foray to Whakatane and Ohope, theoretically missing the worst of the traffic by leaving earlyish on Friday morning and coming back on Tuesday. However we did stop at the Te Puke Golf Club for a round on the very quiet course where we only saw two other couples. They had just cored the greens so they were a bit slow but otherwise the course was in pretty good condition - much better than when we played on it earlier in the year. They only charged us $20 each because of the coring and we enjoyed the round just wishing that our scores had reflected our play on the fairways rather than the greens. A little light shower came down just before we finished but luckily the umbrellas stopped our bags from getting wet.
The golf stop meant we virtually hit the early rush hour in Whakatane which meant that we stopped briefly in the queue approaching the bridge and crawled for about 100 yards before feeling free again - probably about a 3 minute delay!
We arrived at our section in Whakatane to find 3 vehicles already parked there, a dog and the neighbours washing hanging from our tree but they moved 2 vehicles to let us park on the flattest bit. They had a big family gathering over the weekend and after living in the downstairs flat in their house for over a year they are nearly ready to move upstairs. The other vehicle which belonged to the neighbour over the road stayed there most of the weekend but we never saw them to actually talk to. No worries though as everyone around is very friendly.

Our section's over there!

After settling in we had our usual walk down to the Heads and back through the town in time to be back at the bus to meet our friends, Anne and Dave from Ohope, who also have a motorhome. They have just come back from a long camping holiday in France, needed to meet Debussy and have happy hour before we all headed down to the fairly new Spice Guru Indian Restaurant, just down the road, for dinner. A nice night catching up!