beach rubbish

Most days Eddie and I take a stroll along the beach. There are not many days we don't come home without some rubbish. We find a lot of clothes pegs, which come from the oyster farms in the Whangaroa Harbour. They get cleaned and put into the peg basket at the camp laundry. Very convenient. Mostly we get bits of glass, fishing line and the odd bit of rope. Today we had quite a haul, which we had to dig for. First we pulled out an old onion bag attached to a rope, which would have been used for holding berley in while it dispersed around the fisherman. The other dig we had was for a very long piece of rope attached to an old net.

Rope with net attached.

 They both would have made a marine animals life quite miserable if they had gone back out to sea. The net rope had barnacles on it, so it had been out in the ocean for a long time.

berley bag and rope.

A visit to Kaeo and Whangaroa Harbour

On Tuesday we just went into Kaeo to do our shopping, as it is only 17 ks away and there was no reason to go into Keri Keri. Very quaint little town, with lots of old building in the main street. The only trouble is, they are so run down they look like a puff of wind would blow them away. They definitely wouldn't survive an earthquake.
They have a jandal fence ( as you do), so I took some photos to show you.

A sign to tell you all about it

The fence in all it's glory

Lots of them had little messages on them

I wonder if the owners of these ones ever come to Kaeo, will they want their jandals back?
Kaeo isn't very big, so the walk up and down the main street didn't take long. We got into the car and drove up the hill to the suburbs. There was a sign pointing to the Wesleyan Mission, but we didn't find it. I think it dates back to the early European settlers. We did find the cemetery though. Not quite the tourist attraction we were looking for!
Kaeo floods badly. The main street (Elliot St) was raised up in the 1930's to try and keep the water our of the town. The local church looks as if it would be in a lake when it floods, as it is quite low down off the road built on a dish shaped section. ( I hope that makes sense).
After the excitement of Kaeo, we went to check out the Whangaroa harbour. A very peaceful place.

The day was cloudy, but not cold. There was no wind so the harbour was very tranquil.
Then it was time to go home before the milk got too warm and the butter melted.

Some bits and pieces

Last Saturday, the camp manager, Leah organized a camp lunch. They had a kai cooker, which is like a hangi out of the ground. We had pork, chicken, chops and vegetables. We didn't realized it was for everyone and we had eaten our lunch by the time it was ready. So we had another lunch, just like a hobbit. A lovely afternoon talking to the other campers.

Eddie caught a gurnard yesterday out at the harbour entrance. He saw 3 orcas while he was out there. Of course he didn't have a camera with him, so unfortunately no photos of them.

We were very lucky with the bad weather that the rest of the country endured last week. It got cold and we had some rain, but nothing very much. We had a glorious day yesterday, but today it is cloudy and cool.

We haven't left the camp since last Tuesday when we went to Keri Keri to get the groceries and get my hair trimmed. We will go again tomorrow. May be subway for lunch.

The camp is quite busy at the moment because of the school holidays. Several people of our age doing what we are doing. It seems to be the thing at the moment.

Overlooking Matauri Bay

On our way to Keri Keri last week we went the tourist route and went past Matauri Bay where the Rainbow Warrior was sunk. We went down to have a look at the camping ground and may go there when we leave here on the 4th August.

Cliffs at Tauranga Bay

I have forgotten to tell you about the cliffs at the western end of the bay. They are quite dramatic and rise straight up out to the sea.I think it is volcanic. May be the Whangaroa harbour was a volcano in a past life.

That isn't a cave it is just a large dent in the cliff face. There is a hole in the rocks over the other side of the harbour, but it is too far away to get a picture of.

Fog creeping out of Whangaroa Harbour.

This picture shows the entrance of the harbour as seen from the beach we are camped beside. There was no fog anywhere else; just creeping out of the harbour one morning last week.

cliff face

The sand on this beach is a reddish brown colour. We think it must have clay in it. It is very hard to walk on as we sink down quite a long way into it. By the time we get to the end of the beach, our calf muscles are complaining. It is a good work out, that's for sure.
We were able to go around a bit further today as the tide was out. Around the corner is a little beach, which you can just see in the photo below.

Hidden beach

Here is a close up photo of the cliff face. It looks as if it is crumbly.

close up of cliff face

We went into Keri Keri on Tuesday and got the groceries and I had my hair trimmed. On the way we stopped at Matauri Bay where the Rainbow Warrior was sunk. We may go and stay there for a week or two after we leave here on the 4th August.

overlooking Matauri Bay

A visit to Keri Keri

Yesterday ( Saturday 8th) we went to Keri Keri to meet up with friends from Hamilton, who are staying over at Opononi. We had a look in the Stone Store and then had a lovely lunch at the Pear Tree Cafe over the road from the store.
The store has been operating since 1836 and is the longest operating store in the country. I bought a little wooden spoon to put into the salt container and Jeaneen bought some merino gloves.

Eddie and I at the Stone Store. Photo Jeaneen.

View from the Pear Tree Cafe looking down the river.

It was a beautiful day and the sun streamed into the cafe. Above is the view we had while we ate our lunch.

A selfie .

After lunch Eddie and I did a bit of shopping; meths being high on the list! I finally got a new battery for my watch, that has been flat since we were in Papamoa. I just have never got around to getting one. It seems a bit weird to be wearing a watch now after all this time.

Today ( Sunday) is quite a different day with lots of wind and a few showers about. It is supposed to get up to about 100 k winds this afternoon, so we have moved away from the water's edge towards the back of the camp with our nose pointing into the wind and the truck in front of  us. We are getting good at this sort of thing now. I hung the washing on the line this morning and it was nearly dry in 2 hours. Another hour and it would have been dry, but the rain has returned.

Tauranga Bay

We came to Tauranga Bay on Tuesday 4th. It is a nice bay looking straight out to sea. To left is the entrance to Whangaroa harbour. There is a fishing fleet there and we have seen fishing boats coming in and going out.
Today it is pretty wet and windy, with wind blowing straight off the sea, but we can open our door, so not as bad as one day at Bland Bay.

Stephenson Island

Straight out from the shore is Stephenson Island, which is in the above picture, behind the rocks that are closer to the shore.
There are lots of tuis living here. They are feasting on the nectar in the flame trees that are all over the place. I suspect they are a bit of a weed tree, but the tuis love them.

Browning enjoying the sea view.

Dotterels and their nesting site.

There is a dotterel nesting site at one the end of the beach. I tried to get a picture of them, but they were too far away and too small really. The nesting site is among the dune plants in the back ground. It is all fenced off to protect them. They are cute little birds. I sat on the log and hoped they would come closer, but to no avail. I need a camera with a long lens.
We have had a bit of an issue with emptying of the grey tanks. A part has broken and we couldn't empty out. Eddie has ordered a new part today and has managed to get it working in the meantime. We have bought a small tank on wheels, which he uses to empty us out most days It is easier than doing it when they are full.
The roads in Northland often have mangrove swamps right up to the edge of the road. We think it must create a bit of flooding in really high tides. The trees themselves are quite tall too.

mangrove swamp at Tauranga Bay

There are quiet a lot of swamps too with raupo, cabbage trees and toi toi growing.