Tag Archives: Great beachs

Close to home

Where to today? North or South

The leading contender was head south and as I’ve been keen to check out the lighthouse at the end of the Awhitu Peninsula which is on the western side of the Manukau Harbour from Waiuku.

The lighthouse
The lighthouse

It’s about 100ks from Auckland by road. It’s an interesting drive and who would believe it was on Aucklands doorstep!
We left Milford and headed for Shore City for Fiona’s new specs, then onto Countdown for a couple of days provisions. I like Countdown in Takapuna as its really easy to park Rafe in there. They have these great double length car parks.

At Countdown Takapuna
At Countdown Takapuna

We headed south towards Waiuku. It’s an amazing little town that gets forgotten about but it’s got so much history. I must remember too to take the grandkids to the Glenbrook historical steam railway. That is just out of town and largely run by volunteers. A great setup.
The road out from Waiuku to the lighthouse is quite windy towards the end and in parts quite narrow but Rafe did it with ease.

Rafe and the winding road
Rafe and the winding road

We parked in the carpark and when I saw the steps up the hill. I thought of my mate Alan who visited me for a cup of tea a few days ago at Milford. Our driveway there is almost vertical and Fiona still refuses to drive up it. Alan got to the front door and said “oxygen oxygen”! Im sure he was joking but one never knows 😜
The steps up to the lighthouse were a piece of cake but there were a few of them. I remember seeing someone’s blog somewhere who reckoned there were about 275 odd !

The steps!
The steps!

The view at the top was well worth it. The lighthouse has been moved from its original location further up the hill but is basically as it was. There was a full community built around the lighthouse keeper and his family with a complete self sustainable farm to provide food, eggs and milk.

The light
Out towards Whatipu, the bar on the left
Towards the city
The winding road to the carpark
Fiona on the lighthouse deck looking out to Whatipu
The Maunkau bar over the signal station
The lighthouse
Looking towards Auckland
Towards the heads

After an interesting hour of checking it all out we checked into the Orua bay Motorcamp about 3 k’s away on the beach opposite Cornwallis.

Our park at Orua Bay
Our park at Orua Bay

The Motorcamp is largely occupied by permanent caravanners. One of them wandered over for a chat about Rafe. Nice chap. It turned out that he was related to the lighthouse keepers family and had grown up in the area.
Tomorrow we’ll head to Awhitu park back down the peninsula.

Great Beaches, Northland

The Beach

Uretiti Beach
Uretiti Beach

Uretiti has to be in one of the best locations for a camping ground. Right behind the sand dunes and onto a beach that runs from Waipu Cove in the South to Ruakaka in the north. It’s about 10 kms long!

The park itself is huge and you basically park where you want to. As it is all grass, it’s sometimes a little tricky getting level but there is plenty of room with Long drop toilets and cold shower stations dotted throughout the park. There are walks around the dunes for those looking for some exercise.

Don’t forget to click on the images to see the Hi Res version

For the benefit of those offshore. Uretiti with the beach on the right and the main highway on the left. South of Whangarei
For the benefit of those offshore. Uretiti with the beach on the right and the main highway on the left. South of Whangarei

We parked on the beach side next to a track through the sand dunes to the beach.

We’d spent a great day brunching and riding around Whangarei Town centre which was fun so when we got to Uretiti, we were ready to blob out. On arrival, Fiona discovered that we had run out of tea😕 so in the morning we were off for a shopping trip to Waipu, then back to Uretiti to enjoy the sun. We parked on a knoll parallel to the beach and had a bit of a view of the dunes.

The awning out with our new mat down
The awning out with our new mat down on the knoll.

It was time for a swim. Even though it was a hot day, I’d have to say it was “refreshing”! I wasn’t in for long but it’s always nice to be able to tick off that first swim.

Fiona on Uretiti beach
Fiona on Uretiti beach

After a couple of hours on the beach, it was time to watch more Motorhomes and caravanners roll in for parks. Even when Uretiti is busy there are always plenty of gaps. It is huge!

The clothesline in action
The clothesline in action

With the sun coming down, out came the awning and down went the new mat under the awning for the first time and it was great to put the bike clothesline into service too.

With the phone ringing with work coming in, we knew we had to head back to Milford the next morning.

Our first night at Uretiti showing how much room there is
Our first night at Uretiti showing how much room there is

Uretiti is a magic spot. It’s even better when you have a NZMCA/DOC pass and we’ll be back.

Northland

The tenants are in and we’re off.

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After a few last minute things to do to get the house ready for the tenants saw a couple of quick trips between Milford and Devonport but the tenants are in and it all looks good.

I celebrated with my first night away by catching up with long term friends Alan and Grant for a few cold ones and stayed the night at a reserve in Torpedo Bay in Devonport.
There were a few jobs to be done this week so we were in Milford until Saturday morning and now the fridge is pretty much sorted, we’re off.

At the Caledonian Reserve
At the Caledonian Reserve

The forecast was evil. Thunder and lightning was due and it was blowing a cross wind for most of the way north. We stopped for brunch at the Cider Shed just north of Warkworth. We’ve been there a few times before and they’re always good for a nice feed. There is a nice big level carpark making it easy to park large Motorhomes.

After a good break, we headed further north to Wellsford and then finally Waipu. Checking out the new NZMCA bible, we found the Caledonian park behind the shops. What an amazing place to stay. With power too, all for $10 a night.

Fiona with the menu in McLeod tartan at the Pizza Barn
Fiona with the menu in McLeod tartan at the Pizza Barn

We walked down to the McLeod Pizza Barn so Fiona felt right at home(she’s a McLeod) after an hour or two there we walked back to Rafe at the Caledonian Park.

All the Motorhome parks at the Caledonian park .. All with power and water.
All the Motorhome parks at the Caledonian park .. All with power and water.
The Celtic Barn at the Caledonian Park
The Celtic Barn at the Caledonian Park

By midnight it was raining pretty steadily and about 3am it was all in thunder and lightning. With the huge roof vent above our bed, it was fun watching the fun and games above. By the sounds of it, nothing like what they had back in Auckland.

On Sunday, we thought we’d head up to Whangarei and have a nosey around. We parked in the Motorhome parking in the Town centre while we had brunch. Whangarei is very Motorhome friendly with plenty of parking for bigger vehicles and several dump stations. The town centre is a fantastic place where it seems half of Whangarei meets, lunches and enjoys the ambience.

The walk to the town centre
Fiona waiting for brunch at the town centre
The town centre Marina
One of our neighbours at Pohe bridge
At the Pohe bridge
On our bike ride. The town centre from the Riverside bridge.

After a few hours of taking it all in, we set off to try a new park we heard about on the NZMCA Northland Facebook page called Pohe Bridge. A big carpark next to a new bridge. There is a cycle way / walkway which goes all around the harbour from the bridge and back again. Off came the bikes and we were heading back into the town centre again. Across a foot bridge, through the town centre and back along the northern side and back to Rafe.
We opted not to stay there, only because the sun was shining and we fancied getting some mileage out of our Doc pass which we’ve hardly used, and thought Uretiti beach seemed like a nicer spot with the beach.

Our first night at Uretiti
Our first night at Uretiti
Fiona on the Uretiti bridge
Fiona on the Uretiti beach

A walk and sit on the beach for a while and we settled down for the night.

South Island 2015

It was the ducks fault really !

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Fiona was keen for another bike ride so after 2 great nights at Clifton Reserve, we headed into Clive. After the bridge, the bike lane started so we pulled into a driveway and got Fiona’s bike, helmet and basket off the rack and she was off… To Napier.

Fiona riding back to the van from Napier shops
Fiona riding back to the van from Napier shops

I got back in the truck and parked about 3 k’s out from Napier hill at a waterfront park. The bike lane went right last the park so there was a good chance I’d spot Fiona.

Napier beach looking towards Cape Kidnappers
Napier beach looking towards Cape Kidnappers

After about 15 minutes! I caught up with her on my bike and we both headed into town for a cuppa at the Masonic Hotel where we had stayed when we came to Napier two years earlier to buy wee Rafe, the caravan. See Wee Rafe.

Masonic Hotel
Masonic Hotel

After a quick look around the Masonic and the waterfront, we headed back to Rafe along the waterfront. I’d received word that I might have a job in Whitianga the next day. I would know later that day by text. We thought we’d better make our way to Taupo just in case so after a quick trip to the local dump station, we were off.
A couple of hours later after an easy drive along the Napier Taupo road, we arrived in Taupo. Some very good Motorhome friends of ours that live in Taupo had suggested we should consider parking in Ferry road along the waterfront. The wind was still going gangbusters so I was a little hesitant but so that Fiona could walk up to the shops and have a nosey, we stopped.
It was very busy  with more and with more Motorhomes rocking in by the minute.
I got talking with some lovely people from Palmerston North in their newish FB Tracker AutoTrail. After some discussion of where we’d been and what we’d done, I told them the story about how we’d been through upper Moutere valley by Motueka and completely missed all the cheese factories, all the craft shops and all the art shops and how dark Fiona was afterwards. Of course it was the gps’s fault! Just as I was telling the story, there were two ducks on the Taupo waterfront literally ripping each other apart. A girl duck was ripping into a poor bloke duck. She had her beak around his neck at one stage. We were all stunned by the savagery. I said that I thought it was because he hadn’t stopped at enough craft shops. We all cracked up…

The text arrived. The job was on. We needed to meet at Kopu to be picked up to go to Whitianga at 9 am the next morning so we were off to close the gap. We headed for Matamata and I was allowed to get Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner as a treat .. Yippee.

Firth Tower
Firth Tower

We stopped at the Firth Tower. A fantastic spot just out if Matamata. $10 including power.
See our earlier blog on Firth Tower

South Island 2015

A great park and it’s free!

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After a great couple of nights in Martinborough we went into battle with the wind and the rain to get to Hawkes Bay.
The rain was horizontal and when the trees on the west turned into wire fence’s with us driving along at 90 odd k, the puffs were awful. There were a couple of times we were down to 60k just to rest the nerves. By Dannevirke, it had settled down a bit and the rest got easier as time went on.

Hiding in the bushes at Clifton
Hiding in the bushes at Clifton
Us hiding from the wind at Clifton
Us hiding from the wind at Clifton. The wind was coming from behind the big trees.

Late in the afternoon, we arrived in Hastings. The sun was shining and we were heading for Clifton Beach, a wonderful free parking area laid on by the Hastings Council. It comes complete with a modern toilet facility and rubbish collection right on the beach.

The Toilets at Clifton
The Toilets at Clifton

The wind was still blowing but it had dropped off considerably. We parked amongst some shrubs for protection from the wind and settled down for the night. It was just getting dark when 4 big truck and trailers rumbled in and headed down towards the eastern open area (without our beloved shrubs for wind protection). What neat looking wagons.

One of the vans at Clifton
One of the vans at Clifton
Interesting can at Clifton
Interesting bus at Clifton
Another interesting can at Clifton
Another interesting truck and trailer  at Clifton
Lifestyle at Clifton!
Lifestyle at Clifton!

We woke up at 4:45 to watch the Scottish rugby game against the Aussies! You had to feel for the poor Scots. Where were Craig Jouberts glasses when he needed them?

The next morning, we got the bikes ready and headed for Elephant Hill vineyard right over the road for a nice lunch and of course some wine tasting. It was well setup with a processing plant next to their retail outlet and restaurant and completely surrounded by vines with infinity pools, it was a nice setup.

Fiona enjoying a cider at Elephant Hill
Fiona enjoying a cider at Elephant Hill

We had a great lunch, beautiful food and the wine was stunning, I was pleased we’d done the right thing arriving by bike. We decided after that we needed some exercise so off we went in the other direction behind Haumoana.
The wind was getting up again so after half an hour or so of exploring in the bikes, we thought we’d retreat back to Rafe at Clifton Reserve. By then, more interesting vans. And where is it. We were the blue blob at the bottom.

Clifton Reserve
Clifton Reserve
Us on the foreshore for a cup of tea before we left
Us on the foreshore for a cup of tea before we left. Napier city in the distance.

What a great place to park!