A Pootle Around

Wednesday 5th March

Left lovely Waipu Cove and headed down the coast road, past Magawhai Heads where we stayed earlier in the week, and through to Wellsford where we tuned left and headed back down to the coast again.

Unfortunately Rach and family have the Tutmosis trots, so we decided to give them a wide berth, real shame, but we don't want to leave the country in that stay.

It was hellish hard driving today and I was exhausted by the time we got to the coast, but worth it and so lovely when we finally arrived. That's the thing about NZ, you look at the map and think, that's not far, and two hours later you are still driving round wiggley roads.

Our first stop was Bayleys Beach, but couldn't go far out as really rough today. Three cars were lined up on the beach with surf dudes! looking wistfully at the waves..... No surfing today for them. We drove on to Goat Island, didn't see any,  I should add, then Cape Rodney and down to Omaha Bay, and then back to Warkworth, very picturesque.

Every road you travel in NZ you will see road works I would say every 20kms. Me and Rod have decided that they are really a NZ job creation scheme. Every set has at least 10 people, even for the smallest of them, and they all have two go/stop people at each end.

Our camp ground that night was going to be Waiwera.... 'a quiet spot, but picturesque camp ground near the hot springs' so says the Hema Guide. Well we arrived at this place at four, a crinkly old lady came out and showed us around. The impression I got was of Psycho's Bates Motel, campground style. The old woman should really have sat on the veranda in a rocking chair, with a dark figure peering through the window at us, with a knife, screeching at us.

I made my excuses and backed away quickly. The place should have been condemned years ago, and I can easily say it was the worse place we have come across so far.

So we trundled on down the coast to Owera and found us a nice stopping place, complete with lovely beach to walk up and down. Just outside North Auckland and you could see it was all holiday homes, for those escaping the city at weekends. I thought it looked a good place for a weekend from Auckland.