Tutukaka Coast

Today we headed north from Ngunguru and explored the rest of the Tutukaka coast. First stop was Wellington Bay.






We spent a couple of hours here soaking up the glorious sunshine and doing a spot of fishing, waiting for that ever elusive bite.






After limited success, only small fish, Royston tried his luck out nearer the rocks and the larger waves but nothing biting today, not even a sock...





Next stop was the lookout point giving great views out over the coastline and across to the Poor Knights Islands. This view is back to Ngunguru.





From here we headed to Matapouri, a lovely spot and great beach with walks heading into the bush. Unfortunately no campsite here as this would be a perfect weekend destination.





Our final stop was Whananaki South famous for having the largest footbridge in the southern hemisphere, which leads to Whananaki North. Not the most inspiring of bridges however.

Ngunguru

This weekend we were invited up to Ngunguru, just to the east of Whangarei, to stay in a friend's bach. The house is on the main road through the village with views directly across the road to the sandspit and estuary. This was taken from the front deck.




Just over the sandspit is the main ocean beach, so you can hear the waves breaking but not actually see them. The only easy way to get the beach would be to kayak around the spit.




The late afternoon until dusk was spent fishing the fast moving channel in the estuary. Royston successfully caught a sock, not sure how that would taste battered...

Motuihe Island

Today we went on a boat trip organised by the Maritime Museum on the Ted Ashby, a ketch-rigged deck scow built in the 1990s to replicate boats used around NZ in the late 19th century. We were joined by our friends Craig, Jo and Laina.




As we left, we had a great view back to the city.






The destination today was Motuihe Island out in the Hauraki Gulf which took about two hours to get there. Unfortunately no wind so we had to get there by motor rather than sail. This is the boat moored up just off Wharf Bay after we had disembarked.




We had fantastic views to the other islands in the gulf, including Rangitoto and the adjoining Motutapu Island.






Whilst on the island we went on a guided heritage tour where we discovered some of the history of the island. It was used as a prisoner of war camp during WWI, and then as a quarantine station for Spanish flu. Unfortunately all of the buildings have been dismantled and removed from the island. So all we have now are the views, including this over to Waiheke.


The island is a popular spot with Auckland boaties, the main Ocean Beach looked like a bit of a boat park!






The journey back to Auckland was a busy one with people returning home after the long Easter weekend. A great day out and an island we would like to return to again soon to do some of the longer walks.

Fishing at Omaha

The supposedly nice sunny weather for Easter Sunday did not happen, but we still headed up to Omaha beach this afternoon for a spot of fishing. It was obviously too cold for the fish though as no luck for any of the fishermen on the beach today.

Good Friday at the Hunua Ranges

Today we decided to explore a new place so headed to south Auckland then over to the Hunua Ranges Regional Park. First stop the Hunua Falls where we did a little loop walk and wandered down to the pool at the bottom of the falls, a little too cold to go swimming in it now though. Fortunately the nice sunny morning meant a beautiful reflection of the falls in the river.






We then drove around to the first reservoir of the day, Cosseys Reservoir, and had a wander alongside the water.




A bit further round the Hunua Ranges is Wairoa Reservoir, from where you can do lots of walks and where we will head back to in the future. This time we just walked up to the dam to get a nice view over the reservoir.




The final stop of the day was Mangatawhiri Reservoir, this was taken on the very bumpy unsealed road heading down to it. Less to do for us here, more an area for mountain bikers with several tracks around the area.