Category Archives: Day Trips

Day Trips

A day out on the water

The Americas Cup was on and the stars all lined up for eldest son Drew  and Jenna to take us out on our old boat Rorqual. It was also Fiona’s birthday so it was a big day.

Click on an Image to see it enlarged

The good ship Rorqual

Other son Alex and wife Sarah, along with the grandsons Liam and Ayden were meeting us there too.

Alex and Ayden on the foredeck as we go under the bridge leaving Milford Creek.

We all boarded at Milford Marina and set off under the bridge down to the course off North Head.

Nice big boats from far off places.

After finding a hole amongst the huge spectator fleet and getting the anchor to settle we waited for the race to start.

Lots of people on boats with their flags.

There were boats everywhere and most had plenty of people on board too.

The Grandstand as far as the eye can see.

After a couple of start delays they were off. Its great being part of it but I’ve always thought from many years of covering these events from my old newspaper days, unless you’re on a boat following them down the course, you don’t tend to see very much of them as they’re usually so far away. As I say though, great to be part of it and nice to be out there soaking it all in.

Liam(with sausage), dad Alex behind and big brother Ayden.

There was one big boat behind us that were sitting out on their outside deck with the G&T’s watching it on a huge TV as well as seeing it from the boat.. the best of both worlds.

Click on the Gallery below to see a slideshow

Liam up with me on the Flybridge on our way to the course.
Jenna and Sarah
The Bahamas comes to Auckland
Prada

Drew had set up his Ipad so we could get a reception on the boat and keep up with the play so that was really good too.

Spectator fleet

Lots of people were cooling off in the water off the back of their boats too. A real carnival atmosphere.

Cooling off

We had to catch the tide back at Milford and a restaurant in Milford was waiting for the birthday girl so we left early to head back but a great afternoon out soaking it all in.

Britannia leading the race

A great day out with all the family.

Auckland West Coast, Close to home, Day Trips

Muriwai Sunset

It was the first long weekend after lockdowns and already the traffic was awful but we wanted a night out of the house… where to go without driving endlessly through traffic.

Click on any Image to enlarge

Muriwai much later in the day.

Muriwai looked great and we picked a spot I’ve been looking forward to going to for months. John and Jane’s Charges Apply (CAP) parking spot high up in the hills overlooking Muriwai Beach.

We made the mistake of letting the GPS lead the way which was down an unsealed back road up to the road despite the GPS having “no unsealed roads please” loaded. We should have headed straight to Muriwai Beach and then headed up the hill.. still a little bit of unsealed road but only a 1k or so.

Our spot with Muriwai Beach behind

John met us at the electric gates and directed us up to a parking spot where we could get power too for an extra few dollars. Absolutely magic spot looking straight out towards Australia and north over the magnificent Muriwai Beach.

John’s cows with the best view in town.

We were both pretty knackered so just lazed around with some good Jazz on the stereo and I went for a wander around the paddocks to get some piccies.

Parking at Dusk

A lovely spot so close to town and fantastic hosts.

The Gannet Colony

On the way out the next morning, we stopped off for a quick look at the farmhouse Gannet Colony up on the rock on the southern end of the beach.

Rafe’s Tracker map ..The long route we took to John and Janes. – Armada GPS
Close to home, Day Trips, Marine, Quirky things

Everyone has a Jetty

Another one from 2018..

Over our boating years, both Alan and I have had some amazing moments in both Bon Accord harbour at Kawau and around Kawau so being  driven around on the ferry so we could have a good look with a commentary was a real treat.

Click on an Image for Hi Res

Lidgards and Kawau Yacht club

Alan does one of the biggest, if not the biggest Wooden Boating Blogs around called Waitematawoodys.com and was on the Classic Yacht Association committee with me for several years.  We have been known to sneak away in Rafe for the odd boys trip which are always fun!

We left Rafe about 9:30 from the Sandspit Holiday Park and wandered along the road to the wharf to get our tickets and check in.  So after having a cuppa at the café on the wharf we set off about 10:30 for Kawau.

Mansion House

Being an Island and only accessible by boat, Kawau Island has only a handful of roads and a handful of vehicles.

His and Hers

Almost all the houses only have water only access and the way they’ve been built either on top of a hill with their own chairlifts (think electric Wheely Bin on a rail 🙂 ) with a jetty at the bottom or on the water. Some of them are amazing but I suspect most would be either baches, occupied by retired folk or who don’t have to commute.

Kawau Yacht Club

We were on the Royal Mail boat which started at Vivian Bay in the north and worked its way around to Bon Accord Harbour and Mansion House Bay and then down to South Cove where there was mail to be dropped off. On the way back to Mansion House Bay for lunch, we passed the Old Copper Mine.

Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow

Their own little harbour!
Passengers getting off at Mansion House
The descent of the wheelie bin!

Kawau was huge source of copper in the mid 1800’s with a community of around 300 related to the Mine and its output at its peak. By the 1800’s it all fizzled out and most of the miners moved on to the Gold Fields.

The remains of the Copper Mine

After a walk around the Mansion House and the coffee shop, we eventually made our way back to the ferry. It was nice barrelling along at 15 knots in the sun with a glass of Pinot Gris in hand.

Alan getting off the Ferry
Friendly Peacocks on the lawn

We walked back to Rafe in the Sandspit Holiday Park and prepared ourselves for a meal at Sandspit Yacht Club.

Rafe’s Tracker Map

Close to home, Day Trips, Quirky things

Right On The Water

Here’s another one from 2018… enjoy

They’ve had a lot of rain up here so the Sandspit Holiday Park crew suggested that we stick to one back from the water just to make sure we don’t sink!

Click on an Image for Hi res

Nice parking

My old boating friend Alan and I were in need of some time out of the house so we decided a few days before to check out the Sandspit Holiday Park and do a trip to Kawau on the ferry. Sounded like a plan thought I so off we went early on the Friday afternoon. It is only 42k’s from Auckland and with little traffic, we were there at 3.30pm.

Its a lovely little park with a lot of permanent Baches and Caravans but what a neat spot.

With an NZMCA discount, it was $23 each a night. With their very new Showers and Kitchens, its a delight to stay at. There are a whole bunch of older interesting buildings there too and Horace the Morris is a feature as well.

Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow

Snakes and Ladders anyone
Horace the Morris
One of the Quirky wee cottages you can stay in
Out of the way
kayaks available too
Rafe by the water

We stayed two nights with a ferry trip to Kawau in between. Lucky with the weather, after getting back from Kawau, we walked along to the newly setup restaurant on the top floor of the Sandspit Yacht Club and caught up with Motorhome friends Rob and Helen who live not far away from there.

The ferry a few minutes walk away.

The last time we were here, unbeknown to me, they had some issues with the drainage system for the bathrooms which used to be a real problem apparently in the height of summer.

The new Drainage system

This has all been upgraded and put up the hill out of the way and hasn’t been an issue since.  Nice friendly hosts who were happy to help with anything. ..

A shot from the ferry. You can see Rafe in the middle.

A great spot and handy to the Kawau ferry and the new Marina at Sandspit.

The Netspeed Speedtest for here.
Download: 7.34 Mbps
Upload: 2.10 Mbps
Ping: 23 ms
I think the tower was playing up a bit as we had some difficulty with the connection over the two nights.

Rafes Tracker Map

 

Close to home, Day Trips, Friends

Away in the Wet

Our friends Rob and Helen were keen to get out to play Motorhomes and we were keen too!

As the weekend weather was looking pretty naff, we thought somewhere local would be the ticket. After some false starts, we settled on Pinewoods at Red Beach.

I last came here a year ago and back then they were setting out some new concrete parking for Motorhomes. Thats all done now and it looks great and  apparently they’ve been working really well.  So well that they’re looking at putting some more in.

Nice concrete pads

Pinewoods is run by a company of Bach owners and the Motorcamp is run as part of this.

Some of the baches up on the hill

The showers and access to a nice TV lounge, and Kitchen are included in the price. There is also a coin operated Laundry for those who need this.

More Baches

The forecasted weather was bang on and it was naff but we had a nice time in Rafe for happy hour. Helen had made a nice Lasagne and we added some chicken and bits so we moved to the Tracker later. A great fun night.

The best table Tennis table I’ve ever seen!

Early in the morning, I went for a walk around to see if I could get some updated piccies around and after that the others went for a look around.

From Jacobs Ladder looking towards Orewa

Right at the top of the camp, there are some well fenced concrete steps which run down the cliff to the rocks called Jacobs Ladder. From here you can see right up to Kawau and across to Orewa.

Around the other side is a direct track through to Red Beach which comes out behind the Surf Club.

Red Beach

At $18 each with the NZMCA discount, its priced reasonably and is a nice place to stay and if you live in Auckland, its not far away.

The Netspeed Speedtest here
Download: 15.13 Mbps
Upload: 2.16 Mbps
Ping: 20 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-36.601808,174.705547

Rafe’s Tracker map
Close to home, Day Trips, Marine, Quirky things

Everyone has a Jetty

Over our boating years, both Alan and I have had some amazing moments in both Bon Accord harbour at Kawau and around Kawau so being  driven around on the ferry so we could have a good look with a commentary was a real treat.

Click on an Image for Hi Res

Lidgards and Kawau Yacht club

Alan does one of the biggest, if not the biggest Wooden Boating Blogs around called Waitematawoodys.com and was on the Classic Yacht Association committee with me for several years.  We have been known to sneak away in Rafe for the odd boys trip which are always fun!

We left Rafe about 9:30 from the Sandspit Holiday Park and wandered along the road to the wharf to get our tickets and check in.  So after having a cuppa at the café on the wharf we set off about 10:30 for Kawau.

Mansion House

Being an Island and only accessible by boat, Kawau Island has only a handful of roads and a handful of vehicles.

His and Hers

Almost all the houses only have water only access and the way they’ve been built either on top of a hill with their own chairlifts (think electric Wheely Bin on a rail 🙂 ) with a jetty at the bottom or on the water. Some of them are amazing but I suspect most would be either baches, occupied by retired folk or who don’t have to commute.

Kawau Yacht Club

We were on the Royal Mail boat which started at Vivian Bay in the north and worked its way around to Bon Accord Harbour and Mansion House Bay and then down to South Cove where there was mail to be dropped off. On the way back to Mansion House Bay for lunch, we passed the Old Copper Mine.

Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow

Their own little harbour!
Passengers getting off at Mansion House
The descent of the wheelie bin!

Kawau was huge source of copper in the mid 1800’s with a community of around 300 related to the Mine and its output at its peak. By the 1800’s it all fizzled out and most of the miners moved on to the Gold Fields.

The remains of the Copper Mine

After a walk around the Mansion House and the coffee shop, we eventually made our way back to the ferry. It was nice barrelling along at 15 knots in the sun with a glass of Pinot Gris in hand.

Alan getting off the Ferry
Friendly Peacocks on the lawn

We walked back to Rafe in the Sandspit Holiday Park and prepared ourselves for a meal at Sandspit Yacht Club.

Rafe’s Tracker Map

Close to home, Day Trips, Quirky things

Right On The Water

They’ve had a lot of rain up here so the Sandspit Holiday Park crew suggested that we stick to one back from the water just to make sure we don’t sink!

Click on an Image for Hi res

Nice parking

My old boating friend Alan and I were in need of some time out of the house so we decided a few days before to check out the Sandspit Holiday Park and do a trip to Kawau on the ferry. Sounded like a plan thought I so off we went early on the Friday afternoon. It is only 42k’s from Auckland and with little traffic, we were there at 3.30pm.

Its a lovely little park with a lot of permanent Baches and Caravans but what a neat spot.

With an NZMCA discount, it was $23 each a night. With their very new Showers and Kitchens, its a delight to stay at. There are a whole bunch of older interesting buildings there too and Horace the Morris is a feature as well.

Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow

Snakes and Ladders anyone
Horace the Morris
One of the Quirky wee cottages you can stay in
Out of the way
kayaks available too
Rafe by the water

We stayed two nights with a ferry trip to Kawau in between. Lucky with the weather, after getting back from Kawau, we walked along to the newly setup restaurant on the top floor of the Sandspit Yacht Club and caught up with Motorhome friends Rob and Helen who live not far away from there.

The ferry a few minutes walk away.

The last time we were here, unbeknown to me, they had some issues with the drainage system for the bathrooms which used to be a real problem apparently in the height of summer.

The new Drainage system

This has all been upgraded and put up the hill out of the way and hasn’t been an issue since.  Nice friendly hosts who were happy to help with anything. ..

A shot from the ferry. You can see Rafe in the middle.

A great spot and handy to the Kawau ferry and the new Marina at Sandspit.

The Netspeed Speedtest for here.
Download: 7.34 Mbps
Upload: 2.10 Mbps
Ping: 23 ms
I think the tower was playing up a bit as we had some difficulty with the connection over the two nights.

Rafes Tracker Map

 

Close to home, Day Trips

On the Point at Clarks Beach

One of the places I haven’t been to is Clarks Beach so it was time to go and check it out.

Click on an Image for Hi Res

Looking back at the Campground from the beach

The campground has been let go for a bit but has in the last two years been taken over by some nice South Islanders, Gavin and Suzzanne and their family. Gavin has a background in Education and Suzanne in Health and both were look for a lifestyle change and they’ve definitely done that!

Lots of nice Palms

Over the last few years, they’ve shifted and improved the Dump Station and made a lot of changes to the Laundry and Shower areas.

The view from a cabin

I rocked in and with the weather looking showery at best, although I was offered a spot with a magic view over the Manukau on Grass, I elected to stay on a gravel park further back. A bit of a novelty though was where I was parked was where the old dump station was so I had the privilege of having my grey water hose in there for the duration!

Click on the Gallery below for a slideshow

Some of the cabins
Covered Pool
Rafe’s park

Gavin popped in for a chat and was telling me about some of the things they had changed and some of the new things to come.

Down on the beach. Even the seagulls were feeling the wind

I went for a walk down to the beach right in front of the camp and had a look around.

The Beach

A great place in the right conditions for a Kayak or even a fish. There are Fish cleaning facilities there and it is also Dog friendly with a separate pet area and there is a Golf Course right next door.

A nice spot if you want to get away from it all and not too far from Auckland either.

The Netspeed Speedtest for this site
Download: 14.98 Mbps
Upload: 2.73 Mbps
Ping: 22 ms

Rafe’s Tracker Map

Auckland Parks, Close to home, Day Trips, Marine

Busy with the Boats

Tim and Annette, my younger Aussie based brother and his wife had been over for the weekend but they were busy doing their own thing so we thought we’d escape from the house and head off to an Auckland City Park. We were headed for Shakespear Park at the end of the Whangaparoa Peninsula, North of Auckland city.

skaespear0104170024www
Rafe in the trees

We had the last park left available as they had restricted the CSC parking to 10 Motorhomes due to the amount of water from the recent heavy rain. It was busier than I’ve ever seen it and most had opted to park on the gravel parks where they could. One of the more obvious vehicles there was Roy and Bernice Vannini who were camp hosts.

skaespear0104170029www
The city doesn’t seem far away

While the weather was good, I went for my customary walks around to see what was happening. There was action everywhere as there were more tan 300 odd sea scouts in boats at the main camp at the other end of the beach. They were having a great time in their boats with plenty of people around in rescue craft keeping an eye on them. Others were just enjoying the beach and the park.

Click on the images for Hi Res or a Slideshow

Its a lovely spot and its the first time I’ve seen it this busy.

skaespear0104170033www
Looking great

Bernice and Roy came over to catch up which was fantastic as I’ve been following their blog over the last year or so. They’re fulltimers and have been for years in their 10m American Bus. Tons of room and they’ve done a lovely job of making it work for them. They’ve recently done a 3 month Motorhome trip around Europe so Fiona and I were keen to hear how they went and mistakes not to make 🙂 We’re heading over there in June and really looking forward to it.  It sounds like they had a great trip and they gave us heaps of ideas and tips, books to read and so on. Very helpful !

Everyones on the gravel. Roy and Bernice’s Bus 2nd along.
Plenty going on
Sea Scouts having a ball
All aboard
Looking out to Rangitoto Island
Rafe on the gravel. Roy and Bernice’s bus by the tree on the left.

Shakespear is a funny place where the Internet is concerned as the first time we came here was without aerials and we got a very slow connection, useable but just ! The second time was later last year and we couldn’t get anything.. with aerials but without the patch for the aerials so I suspect they weren’t working. This time, it was pretty good for a known problem area,  but we’ve got the aerials working well now  but it was slow but usable and it seemed reliable. A tricky wee spot!

With Tim and Annette coming in for tea for their last night in NZ and after having a cup of tea in the morning with Roy and Bernice, we headed back to town.

skaespear0104170009www
Checking it all out

Its always nice coming to Shakespear and its so close too.

The Netspeed Speedtest for this site
Download: 5.96 Mbps
Upload: 1.93 Mbps
Ping: 53 ms
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=-36.613140,174.824475

The image from Rafes Tracker.

Rafes Track .. the red dots showing where I went faster than 90k!
Classic Boating, Day Trips, Marine

A Classic trip to the Riverhead Pub

2 Comments

With the All Blacks losing to Ireland and the weather forecast looking miserable, you could have easily flagged the day as one for the slippers and the fireplace but when the call goes out for the Classic Launches Riverhead trip, it is one not to be missed!

Trinidad under way with the Bridge and City behind
Trinidad under way with the Bridge and City behind

Fiona and I have done this for years, usually twice a year and it never disappoints.  See a previous trip here.

Click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow

riverheadClassic boat owners Paula and Stephen Pepperill sold their Classic Yacht to renovate their newly purchased Riverhead Hotel and have done a stunning job in rescuing it after years of being run down and neglected. These days, ferry loads of passengers make the day trip from Auckland to have a great lunch with a few drinks and to enjoy the river trip. It has also become one of the more popular trips for the Classic Yacht Launches too.

Where we went.. From Bayswater to Riverhead and back.
Where we went.. From Bayswater to Riverhead and back.

Its always a fun event and can be quite nerve racking for the novices as the channel is quite narrow in places and can be only a 1 metre or so deep in places so its a great event for confidence building and to join in with a new adventure.

At Lucas Creek .. half way. Dani, Grant, Robyn and Fiona with Trinidad behind.
At Lucas Creek .. half way.
Dani, Grant, Robyn and Fiona with Trinidad behind.

Fiona and I decided to take Rafe down to the marina carpark and stay two nights so we could get away early and stay the night after.

Juanita with Rangitoto behind
Juanita with Rangitoto behind

We were meeting Alan and his wife Robyn on their 28ft 1928 Lanes tramtop at the marina at 9.00am. Friends Dani and Grant were going to be there too.  Alan was Launch Captain of the CYA (Classic Yacht Association) for 4 years after my 2 years as LC, and Alan, Grant and I have done lots of boating together when I had Rorqual.

Launch captain, Angus Rogers Mahunui
Launch captain, Angus Rogers Mahunui

We met under the centre span of the Auckland Harbour Bridge and at 09:30, Alan led the way up to the first meeting point at Lucas creek, about half way where we were meeting several other boats and their crews.

On the way to Riverhead
On the way to Riverhead
Raindance at the wahrdf with others jostling for a park
Raindance at the wharf with others jostling for a park

In the well sheltered upper harbour, the water was calm and there was very little wind. About an hour later, everyone was jockeying for a parking spot, some rafting with friends and the Tino Rawa Trust tender Whistleblower was on hand to ferry people into the Pub’s jetty.

Marita with the city behind
John Dory, under the bridge
Mahunui, city behind under the bridge
John Dory arriving at Riverhead
Trinidad at Lucas creek
The Ferry at the jetty
Rafted boats
Fiona nd Robyn at the Riverhead.
Boats moored below the pub

About 100 people turned up, some by car as well. There was a band playing, the sun made an appearance and it was a great few hours of catching up with old friends and meeting a few new people too.

About 2pm (1.5hrs after full tide), many started to leave before the creek ran out of water 🙂  We had a fun trip back with a couple of drinks, some Sausage Rolls and some chocolates and strawberries which Fiona had prepared.

Time to go, Grant stand and Fiona sitting waiting to go.
Time to go, Grant standing and Fiona sitting waiting to go.

We stepped off the boat to a hot shower and a cup of coffee after a neat day out. Thanks for a great day out on the water Robyn and Alan,  and its always fun to see Grant and Dani too.

There are more images on Alans blog Waitematawoodys.com