An electrical issue

 

At Parua we were relying on our batteries which weren't really doing it anymore, so we put in new batteries. The old ones were 5 years old. It is so much better with new gel ones that are really taking in and holding the power. We are tried the fridge on it yesterday, as it was on gas and really using a lot. We figure the sun will be more economical. It wasn't so successful, as it used the batteries a bit too much, so back to gas.

We had an interesting day last Tuesday, when the new batteries went flat for no apparent reason that we could fathom. One of our fellow campers, Alan and Eddie spent most of the day trying to figure it out. What they think happened was that the left bank of new batteries weren't as charged as full as the right bank, so the power drained from the right to the left to make it balanced. Luckily it was a sunny day and we were able to get back up to 50% by night fall. Eddie put the generator on in the morning for a couple of hours to get them a bit further on and the sun did the rest.

We came back to Pataua on Saturday, and all seemed good with the power so we decided not to worry about the man from the autoelectricians that we had booked. However, this morning we seemed to have lost some power, so we are back to plan A with a man coming after Easter. We are going to put a new solar panel on the roof too, so we will have heaps coming in, even on a cloudy day. Maybe then we can use the fridge on solar too.

We are making plans where to go after Easter, but it is all very fluid at the moment and could be anywhere in Northland. We don't want to go south of the Brynderwyn hills

A change of scene

 

We are in Parua now, which is about 30 ks south of Pataua. There was no work to speak of at the camping ground, so we decided to make a bit of a change. We are staying in what is called a POP. That is a pop over place, that is run by the New Zealand motor caravan association. It is an area in the Whangarei Cruising club grounds, which can hold 5 vans. Outside the gate there are free sites for up to 3 days, but no facilities, except a public toilet. We have showers, toilets and water available, but no power, so we are running on solar and gas this week. There is also a washing machine if I need it.

We have a lovely view of the bay and all the boats that are moored there. Eddie heaven.

We may be here for a week or perhaps 2. We are going back to Pataua for Easter as it is half full already. I think people are waiting to see what the weather and covid are going to do. Normally it would be busy this week as Epsom Girls Grammar come for a week very year, but with the lock down in Auckland last week they decided to postpone until November.

We have friends come up from Tauranga for a few days in their little camper van, so today we are going to do a bit of a tiki tour around the Whangarei Heads. Its a sunny day, so it should be a good one.

Looking back at the pop from the rocks

Looking over the bay

Eddie looking at the view

Eddie the poser.

A trip to Wellington

 It turned out to be quite serendipitous that I went to Wellington as my father was in hospital when I got there. Nothing too serious and he is home again now. I was able to take Mum up to the hospital and home again while I was there.

When we into Whangarei yesterday, we were approaching the lifting bridge which is called Te Matau a Pohe. It translates as the “fish hook of Pohe”. The red light came on and we stopped and waited to see what vessel was sailing underneath, but nothing appeared, so we have no idea why it went up. I took a picture of it up. The yellow bits at the bottom are the rams that pushes it up. They are a lot bigger than the photo implies.

Lifting bridge at full height.

This next bit was taken from the Whangarei District council website. The picture was from the Ross and Davies Travel Blog.

Pohe is the chief who welcomed the first English settlers to Whangarei. He was very skilled in manufacturing fish hooks using traditional materials and styles. His hooks were so practical, many of the settlers used his hooks in preference to the standard English hooks made of steel. Pohe was also instrumental in building bridges between the two cultures during the first years of English settlement amongst Maori. Pohe used his ranking to protect many of the first settlers from being killed.

Te Matau a Pohe

Yesterday we went to check out Ruakaka Beach. We have decided to go there after Easter, when Abbey has gone home.

Ruakaka Beach