8 December 2017 - Parua Bay, Whangarei Harbour, Northland

The fine warm weather has continued delighting us every day although I am sure the farmers here in the north will soon be crying in their tea cups and praying for rain. The open ground here beside the bush is starting to crack open and the foliage browning off. We spent some days clearing the weeds which were waist high in places, growth and colour that elsewhere we would celebrate as wildflower meadows. I persevered for a mere hour pulling up bracken until hay fever chased me back to the van. In contrast Chris donned overalls and earmuffs to weed-eat the perimeter of the commercially mown area. In the middle of this endeavour, our mowing man turned up with his ride-on and hand mower and tidied up the central areas; hence our “garden” is now neatly manicured and spoiled for the birds which had been enjoying the wildlife.

Wild flowers on Jumbo before the big mow and slash

When we initially arrived back on to the section, we disturbed a pair of rosellas, delightful parrots and reminiscent of our time in Australia. They along with the indigenous and other introduced species continue to entertain us, serenading each end of the day and in between for good measure.  And interestingly the morning after the big mow, the pair of gorgeous Eastern Rosellas spent hours poking about in the “hay” below our elevated gaze.

Actually to say “we” bush whacked is actually very unfair to Chris, because it was he that did all the hard work, wielding the cumbersome weed-eater, and the spray wand, and most of the other exhausting stuff required to tame the wilderness. I reserved my efforts for administrative tasks such as trying to sort issues out with Chris’s new phone. (Here again the word “new” is not strictly correct because he ended up with my hand-me-down and it was I who scored the new phone.) The problems with his Apple account arose from the fact that he purchased an app in the UK, just one little app all about a cycling race, and this managed to confuse the regional settings. Spark staff, yours truly and the people on the end of chat lines and phone calls all were unable to rest this so the “fix” was quite complicated. Finally after several hours “chatting” with a very clever chap in Sydney employed by Apple, we arrived at a possible solution which I put into practice when we eventually managed to plug into mains power and endless Wi-Fi. 

Needless to say my husband is now recovered from his bout of UK flu although it was never really that; we have become all too ready to call anything that lays us low for more than a couple of days, the ‘flu. Already he is thinking about trips he would have us do away through the summer, although these will have to fit around our Christmas Day commitment and the repainting of the roof of our once-upon-a-time home.

Pleased as punch with our "new" car

As we travel in and out along the harbour to Whangarei, we note the changes of the pohutakawa blooms; within weeks they will be amass of crimson. The flame trees have also started to their own display, not unlike the poinsettias of Christmas, all in line with the Santa parades happening all around the country. We are surprised with the number of backpacker car based travellers already populating the specially designated camping spots along the harbour; near the boat club at Parua Bay and at Tamaterau, such stunning spots to wake up to. The Whangarei Harbour is indeed one of the most beautiful harbours in the world, but then we are biased.

Lazy oldies on the beach at Matakana Is

We passed otherwise idle days attending the cinema, calling on my parents, shopping for groceries and a new car. It was time for our poor old Isuzu, the 1994 workhorse that has served us well for the last sixteen years, to retire and we replaced it with a slightly younger vehicle, a station wagon that others would use as a people carrier. Hopefully this “new” eleven year old vehicle will serve as well as her predecessor, ferrying pots of paint, ladders and scaffolding for repairs and upkeep of our rentals. Despite the utilitarian nature of the purchase, we did feel like Christmas had come early.

In fact Christmas bounty continued even the same week. We delayed heading down to Waihi Beach to see Larissa and her family with unavoidable and unalterable appointments, finally getting away on the Friday afternoon. We were still short of our destination late that afternoon having spent four and three quarters of an hour travelling from Whangarei to Paeroa, with the slowest of the trip through Auckland, with no particular obstacle slowing the traffic down; it seems that this is just normal and it is such experiences that makes one glad to be living elsewhere.

Parked up beside the Rail Trail, we happened upon a rather eccentric chap complete with earring and three bikes for sale; one each for Papa, Mama and Little Bear. We could not resist the bargain and soon the two adult bikes were secured on the back of our motorhome, on the racks that previously supported the more superior bikes stolen when we were in South Auckland two years ago. These are well below standard but should meet our modest needs, mainly filling the empty rack and providing us with a sporty look.

While children and grandchildren ski

We spent the good part of a week in Waihi Beach, firstly parked up at the local RSA Club, enjoying the wide views over the sea, out to Mayor Island and beyond, observing the odd passing of large container ships departing the Port of Tauranga further south. After the allowed three days, we spent the next two parked up near the Community Centre which is less picturesque but equally suitable, or at least at this time of the year before the onslaught of the holidaymakers. 

Chris was employed in the back yard, digging and shovelling, a task not too unlike that undertaken at our rental last summer before we left for the UK. While he does love to be useful, I am sure a little part of him was happy to wake the morning of our departure knowing that the drive north would be the most strenuous part of the day. He also endeared himself to all by taking our granddaughter out for driving lessons, a task never for the fainthearted and certainly not for one as nervous as me. I seemed to do little but eat and talk, then eat some more, attend to Chris’s phone “repair” and oversee everyone else’s hard work.

Checking for stingrays

Whilst there we spent a morning out on the water under the glorious sunshine, or more correctly, my husband and I were taken out to Matakana Island across the Tauranga Harbour and settled there to guard the picnic breakfast and observe the ski-ing talents of all and the adept boat handling skills of both father and fifteen year old son. We had set our alarm for 5 am and were heading away from the launching ramp at Tanners Point soon after 7 am, hence the need for the picnic, although Chris and I had had time to sneak in our regular cereal as we are creatures of habit and waiting for “brunch” is not something that aligns with our digestion.

Camping at Waipu's Caledonian Park

The shore was littered with sea lettuce which has hit the television news since, reported to be a foul pollutant for the more fastidious bay dwellers. I did not find it so; it was a good barrier between us landlubbers and the numerous stingrays that lurked near the shore. We watched the herons swoop in and then depart again when the noisy motorboat returned to destroy the peace of our otherwise isolated posse. It was the first time I had been to Matakana Island, although views from the mainland across the long narrow harbour to the island are hardly new. I used to pick my way about the low tide near Katikati opposite the island forty years ago, and even   before then, as a small child visiting the beach at Mt Maunganui,  the southern tip of the Island was part of the landscape, for both Mount walkers and harbour paddlers. 

When we did eventually head north again,  our progress up through Auckland on the motorway was straight forward with none of the delays experienced just days before and we continued on up, breaking our journey at Waipu where we overnighted at the Caledonian Park, the venue of the annual New Year’s Day Celtic Highland Games. Here members of the NZMCA can stay plugged into power for a modest $10 and Chris thought it might give the motorhome batteries a good boost to do so. You know me; I never turn down the opportunity to enjoy un-rationed electricity.