Miranda and Waharau Regional Park

We woke to blue blue skies and it has been a hot sunny day! 

After a lazy start we drove up the road for about 20 km to the local regional park. In fact we drove considerably further as M didn’t believe the the sign for the entrance was correct. As a result we saw some beautiful coastline and a lot of problems with erosion. The road had been partially washed away in several places.

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Our walk took just over an hour and went up through native forest with occasional views down to the coast.

I love sunlight on the ferns

We saw some beautiful coral lichen too

This area is very special for migrating birds and we quickly called in at the Shorebird Centre on the way back.  Birds migrate to and from the Artic here.

The beach looked inviting so we stopped thinking we might sit and have a drink. But the shell sand was so white it was much too bright for us and we came back to the capmpsite.

Looking across the Firth of Thames to the Coromandel 

It was so hot we had to retreat to the shade to have a drink and lunch. The original plan was to have lunch out and we wandered out to the cafe next door, but we were not impressed, so we made some lunch here.  We are finishing off all the bits and pieces tonight, and will splash out on a meal tomorrow night!!

This afternoon we emptied all the cupboards and began to pack, it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated.  There are lots of others doing their packing here too today!

The school choir have been practising on and off all day, they sound fantastic! We have really enjoyed listening to them.

Tomorrow we will deliver the van back and go to the Sudima Hotel at the airport, we may have time to go into the city, not sure yet. We leave Auckland at 9.0 am ish on Saturday to fly to Hanoi via Hong Kong which will be about 20hr travel with transfers etc.   After Sunday in Hanoi we are all going to Ang Bang Beach for a few days, near Hoi An. 

Signing off from NZ, hope you have enjoyed the trip!

Coromandel, Thames & Miranda Hot Springs Holiday Park

Whey hey!! This morning the sun came out.....and stayed out on and off until about 3.0pm

The first sign was shadows across the camping ground 

We drove west over the mountain range which divides peninsula to Coromandel town, not much there, a few old ‘frontier’ type buildings and a lot of cafes. 

Views from the lookout at the top of the Pass 

After a very nice coffee and date scone we turned south, heading towards Thames which is the main town and gateway to the Coromandel on the west of the peninsula. The road was hilly and twisty to begin with eventually dropping down to the coast then it is quite narrow and hugs the coast between the sea and the cliffs. There has been a lot of coastal erosion and there were road repairs and retaining wall strengthening for miles. There are lots of picnic places, but a many of them were occupied by the road work vehicles etc, but eventually we found one and stopped....to sit in the sun, read our books and have lunch!

We had a very quick shop in Thames then came along to the holiday park. It is what it says and has lots of facilities including a Hot Springs pool which I enjoyed. The water temperature is about 36C . I have done a load of laundry and will do some last minute things tomorrow, and also tomorrow we will,

 have to pack up. A small nightmare after living in a van for three weeks,! However in the morning we are planning to go up the coast a little way to a regional park for a walk.

There is a Maori school choir staying here, practising for a competition. They sound wonderful!!
Heavy showers this afternoon, but the forecast is good for tomorrow 

A quick snap whilst waiting for the signal man to change his sign from Stop to Slow ( they don’t say Go!)

Weather warm, sunny, then showery.

Total km: 115

 

Cathedral Cove and Matarangi Bay

After a nice quiet night we both slept in a bit! No rain hammering on the roof or waves pounding!

We left  just after 9.0am and  made our way to Tairua where there was a great stone and gemstone shop. We bought a couple of small stones but no gems unfortunately! After coffee and a quick trip to the public dump station, we drove up to Hahei and parked up to go to Cathedral Cove. We have never been before and as it is unlikely we will visit NZ again, we thought we should see this famous landmark. You have to park in the specified car park at Hahei and either walk all the way or get a shuttle bus to the start of the track. The bus is $5 pp and we did that as it is still 45 mins each way. The path is paved until the very last section when there are 142 steps down to the beach. The steps are good with a hand rail and non slip surface attached to them. 

We set off in the rain with waterproof jackets on, but it soon stopped and then we were really overdressed! I tied mine round my waist. It was warm and very humid and I was soon dripping, good acclimatisation for Vietnam next week maybe!! The walk goes down then up then down again mainly through the native bush forest, with a few interesting flowers on the way.

It was worth the walk to see this arch, even though it was not good weather for photos. There were a lot of people around considering it is out of the main holiday season and a poor day weatherwise, but I suppose, like us, they were going to go whatever the weather.

After some lunch in the van, in the car park, we set off north to Matarangi Bay via Whitianga . There is a freedom camping spot by the boat launch and it was lovely when we arrived. Just us and and couple of others, however we are now cheek by jowl with other campervans!!  This has never happened before and if we had arrived when some of these others did, we would have turned around and found somewhere else. It is an approved Council site but not for the numbers parked now, I think! We will see what happens when the Council come to check.....which they do! 

We made a decision this evening and we are booked into a v good holiday park on the Firth of Thames for the next two nights prior to handing back the van. So tomorrow we will drive across th Peninsula and South .

For those who don’t know, The Coromandel Peninsula is quite mountainous and the roads are hilly and twisting with lovely bays and small towns and villages in between.

Before we were invaded!

Weather: grey skies, we haven’t seen the top of a hill for almost a week. Damp!

Total km 120

Whangamata and Opoutere Beach

Better news today!! It really poured down for the first part of the night, then at 3.30am we were woken by a siren!! I got up, but there were no signs of anyone worrying except another couple camped near us. It turns out that it was the fire service call out siren, however if it had been a continuous blast it would have meant we were to evacuate as there might be a tsunami on the way....its good to know! 😉. Anyway when I eventually surfaced just before 8am I spied some blue sky out of the window, and M said the sun had been shining since 7.0am, a slight exaggeration, but a great improvement nevertheless.  The fridge is working again but all my milk had gone off, fortunately the site has a small shop so I was able to have my morning coffee with my breakfast after all.

Much better view this morning, lots of black swans on the mud flats 

The Athenree Hot Springs Holiday Park is an excellent site, spotlessly clean and well maintained and use of the hot pools is included in the site fee. The staff yesterday could not have been more helpful and this morning the owner called by with a couple of bookmarks and thanked us for coming! 

We left a bit after 10.0am having decided to drive up to the Coromandel with the idea that we would not go very far. We were back to hill, bends and native forest with the occasional splash of blue from Morning Glory twine-ing itself through the bushes. I forgot to say that yesterday we drove through kiwi growing and orchard country and we stopped to buy blueberries and strawberries. 

Good example of native bush 

We stopped a while in Whangamata, bought some great cookies to take for Orlo, all wholesome ingredients and no palm oil, so he will approve!! He has been learning about the effects of palm oil collection. Last time we were here in 2010 we were towed in by the AA and had to wait hours for a replacement Campervan, not so this time, thank goodness! We had a wander, a coffee and chat with the lady in the info centre, a quick look at t shirts, but didn’t buy one, then we were off on our way again. However we only drove 15 mins up the road and turned off to this delightful spot where we now plan to stay the rest of the day and overnight. We are on a small river mouth and apparently there is a lovely beach 700m walk away. After lunch we will go and explore.

SO FAR, IT HAS  NOT RAINED TODAY!!....finger crossed!

Later:

Slight drizzle now but it’s been fine today!! Low cloud, but we had a good walk through the forest and along the beach where we met two people!!

U

Look carefully, not just footprints in the sand, there is a NZ Dotterel.

We saw several on the beach, they are protected.

 Once we got back I relaxed and sat and made some lace. It has been very warm 23-26C and humid but with shorts and sun top on I was comfortable.  The cicadas are in full ‘song’ we have heard them in all the coastal places we have visited on both islands.

We are staying on the Coromandel until Friday when we hand the van back, so will be taking it relatively easy for the next few days. Small mileages and some tourist-ing! 

Weather: much better than expected! Mainly dry! 

Total km 67.

NB 80km is 50 Miles

Ohiwa Harbour and Athenree Hot Springs

11th February 

Oh dear! The weather could be better, to put it mildly!

Yesterday we drove to Ohiwa, on the Bay of Plenty,  to visit Sandra Ball who Michael met on the riding trip in Mongolia last August. She made us very welcome at her ‘bach’ which looks out over the harbour. For those who don’t know a ‘bach’ is like a country cottage often quite rustic.  We took it easy stopping for coffee at Opotiki then stopping at a picnic spot on the beach for lunch and to catch up with emails, banking etc.  We had not had any comms for two days.

Once parked up at Sandra’s, which was quite a feat in itself, M and I went for a walk as Sandra was still out with her son, buying stuff for school. We had been in contact with her, so we knew it was the right house, this is trickier than you might think, with the post boxes being down on the roadside and no I.D on the gate. We had a lovely hours walk along the harbour side in between the showers. 

The day could not be described as fine!

After a cuppa and a chat we all decamped to a friends house to have dinner, Sandra cooking up a storm in Courtney and Jared’s kitchen. It was very interesting to hear about Sandra’s work as a District Nurse and Lead of a Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme, the local crime scene, the poverty situation amongst some communities, and Courtney’s work training teachers in a numeracy and literacy project.

Weather:  Damp to wet, occasional fine spell 

Total km 106

After another wettish night we set off  about 10.0am. It was wet!  The visibility was poor so we decided not to go via the Rotorua area but to stick to the Pacific Coast Highway, which we have been following since Napier. We drove through Whakatane and up to Tauranga. I had set the Google Maps for a supermarket on our route, however for the first time, it took us on a wild goose chase into a residential area to a dead end and a private road! I turned around, carefully, headed out and reset the map!!!  We got to the supermarket in a few minutes, back the way we had come and did our small shop. The fridge has not been functioning correctly and I had to throw the meat which was in the freezer. Not sure what the problem is and I have reset it this afternoon, according to the User Manual.

We drove to Athenree Hot Springs, we came here 8 years ago and remembered the great welcome and the hot pools. In 2010 we arrived after a very long drive in hot weather! Not so today! It was a stressful drive much of the time in pouring rain on a very busy road. However the welcome was still the same and the proprietor took a lot of care to find us a spot where we wouldn’t get bogged down and where we would not step out into a puddle. We took advantage of the hot pools, one is 35 ish degrees the other 39-40 degrees. Bliss! The water comes from a borehole and the pools are emptied, cleaned and refilled every night. We arrived about 2.30pm and as I write this at 9.15pm there have been just  a few short spells of dry weather. A big depression in the Pacific and a cyclone which has hit Samoa and Tonga are responsible for the all the rain! 

Good night from rather a wet NZ, no respite expected until Tuesday.

Weather.....think you know!

Total km 203

Maraehau Bay

9th February 

What a night! It rained all night and when it woke me I saw the fridge display flashing, thinking the gas had blown out I reset it, but on the third time I switched it off suspecting that the gas had run out. I was correct and this morning, in the rain, Michael had to change to the bbq/emergency gas bottle before we could have our morning cuppa.

After breakfast we packed up and set off down the road to look at an old wharf, and ruins of a freezing factory.

The view of the old wharf!!!

Then we were back up the road to the village where we were able to swap our gas bottle at the village store. Whilst waiting I was  interested to see that all the signs in the shop were in the Maori language, not one in English! 

We left Tokomaru at circa 9.45 to drive up and down over the mass of land that is the Eastland/East Cape, from the east coast to the north coast. We arrived in Te Aroroa at 11.0 ish and made ourselves a coffee. The road to the East Cape lighthouse leaves from here and we set off following the ‘road’ round the cliffs. However it soon deteriorated into a muddy gravel road. We had seen warning signs about forest harvesting and I had visions of meeting a huge logging  truck, as we had seen them again this morning. We turned around at the first suitable spot, it was still raining and the cloud was well down, so there didn’t seem much point in driving 20km out to the lighthouse and 20km back. However the short foray resulted in a photo of a road sign we have not seen before.

We carried on round to Hicks Bay where, apparently there is another ruined wharf, but we didn’t find that one!! At one time this area must have been a hive of industry working for the export of produce from the local farms/stations. 

We drove onto to Waihau Bay where we made our lunch. It was raining again by this time having stopped for three quarters of an hour between 12.30 and 1.15!!

The first Maori canoes landed close to here in 1350 and we very much feel that we are in Maori country.  The settlements are small with a cluster of houses on a few streets with a village shop. Some villages have a school.

Lunchtime was decision time....how far to go today.....and we decided to drive a further 20km to Maraehau Bay campsite which has a good reputation for location.

On the way we stopped to look at a historic church, of which there are quite a few in this area, it was prominently located on a piece of land jutting out toward the sea and was beautifully maintained.

We arrived at the campsite at around 2.30, it is a lovely spot, but expensive for very basic facilities. Michael had a quick swim in the sea and a dip in the river at the side of the beach, I read my book!

We really have been in the wilds for the last two days, no cellphone and no Wi-fi, which wouldn’t matter except that I planned to call our host for tomorrow! Hopefully we will pick up a signal fairly early in the mrong morning to make the arrangements!

Weathers: wet, max temp 17C

Total km 178

This is the second time I have written this blog I am still struggling with this ActivePro blogging app!! 

Napier, Mahia Bay (Opoutama Beach),Tokomaru Bay

8th February 

After a good night at the Clifton Beach we drove into Napier on a chilly wet morning. 13C, I needed two thin sweaters and my rain jacket, apparently Napier is often the hottest place in the country, not yesterday!! 

On February 3rd 1929 a big earthquake and subsequent fire destroyed much of Napier and it was rebuilt. Therefore the city is full of Art Deco buildings, unfortunately many facades have been ruined by modern canopies, but if you look above them the original buildings can be seen. We warmed up with a coffee and visited the cathedral which has  a chancel dedicated to the first Maori Anglican Bishop. It is decorated with traditional woven panels and all the woodwork has Maori carving. The stained glass windows are wonderful too.

 I fancied doing a bit of shopping, or window shopping, but it is impossible with Michael! I bought some flip flops (jandals here!) for use in and out of the van and that was it!!

We wasted quite a bit of time finding the Mitre 10 store to buy a hose clip fitting for a screw tap. We have not been supplied with one  and our hose won’t fit onto the public potable water taps without it. Job done for $5 [£2.50]. We also wanted some bread and eventually found a New World, but I couldn’t park so we went to a bakery back down the road and bought sausage rolls and a small quiche for lunch. The sausage rolls were really good!

We then set off again first of all driving along the coast then the road goes inland up and down through very hilly countryside. We met a lot of huge logging trucks take very large pieces of timber out.

The weather continued to be wet, we stopped at Lake Titirangi for our lunch where an obliging black swan posed for me!

One very interesting feature of the drive was the Mohaka River Gorge which had a huge railway viaduct over it. The countryside was amazing, lots of lumpy bumpy hills, then forest, then coastline.  The farms on the lower land were either sheep or dairy, with grass or maize being grown.We turned off the main road down to Mahia Bay where there was a council run freedom campsite on the beach, another wonderful location.

These council approved freedom camping sites are a new phenomenon since our last visit. They have limited spaces and usually a toilet block. The loos here were spotless as they were at Clifton Beach. There were a few other campers there, but we were all well spread out so that was fine. The rain had stopped by the time we got there and we had a walk along the beach to blow away the cobwebs.

Weather: wet, damp, grey!

Total km 194

Today we left at about 9.0am and drove an hour and half to Gisborne. First of all we visited the I-Site to buy a permit to camp up along the coast. Then we did a short shop in Pak n Save, had coffee, M went to a liquor store for some gin, we filled up with diesel and set off again.

The driving was very similar to yesterday but with fewer steep hills and more coastal scenery. This coastline is spectacular with big headlands then dropping down to bays with the surf rolling in. More logging trucks today, we still haven’t  found where they are coming from, there must be a large clear felling operation going on somewhere.  The forests are huge, pine for commercial use, with deciduous trees on the forest edges. I am sure most of you won’t believe that agapanthus grow wild here, they originate from garden escapees and I think they are branded as a noxious weed, but I think they look wonderful lining the roadsides. I always think that you haven’t seen tree ferns until you come to this country, but you haven’t seen agapanthus either!!

Sorry they are not all quite in focus

We stopped for lunch at Tolaga Bay which has a wharf 660ft long. It was built between 1925-29  to allow produce from this area to be shipped out more easily. What is now a small village was once the largest port on the east coast. The port declined due to the Depression and WW2, and it became more economic to shift freight by road.

After lunch we walked out over the headland on the Cooks Cove Walkway to a lookout to a Cove this Captain Cook visited for 6 days during his circumnavigation of NZ.  The first European landing was just south of here in Poverty Bay in1769 by Cook on his ship Endeavour. Our walk took us about an hour, we could have gone down to the bay, but that would have entailed going down to sea level, then back up again. I decided my knees wouldn’t like that, we had already done a steep climb to reach the lookout.

View from the lookout

Another 30min drive took us to our planned destination for the night, Tokomaru Bay, and here we are, another beach, another campsite! The only slight problem is that it is raining!

As ever Michael is optimistic that it is “brightening up”. I am not so sure! We have got very limited cellphone or Wi-fi here, so no forecast, whatever will be, will be!
We have made contact with Sandra Ball who was a guest on the Mongolia riding trip Michael did last summer, she lives near Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty and we are heading to see her on Saturday once we have rounded the East Cape tomorrow.

By the way my leg and ankle are normal size now and the bites are greatly reduced.

Weather: Mainly dry with the odd shower, grey skies. The temp didn’t get above 17C

Total km: 175