Camping at Pakiri Beach

This weekend we have finally managed our first camping trip of the year. We headed north, via the new toll road (which was very good and very quick) to Pakiri beach about an hour north of us.





We were given a lovely camping spot right next to the river, and this was the view from our tent.





After relaxing during the afternoon, the early evening was spent fishing the change of light. We were both successful in catching a couple of kahawai (my first proper fish!) but decided to put them back this time. The waves were fantastic and made for challenging casting, trying not to get the reel wet.



Sunday morning we got up very early for a walk to the beach and to watch the sunrise.

Waipu Cove with Paul & Dorothy

Our friends Paul & Dorothy have just returned from a three week holiday in the South Island and have spent the last two nights with us before they leave NZ and head back to Amsterdam. We took the day off, booked fantastic weather and headed up to Waipu Cove for the day. Despite there being a few people around, there was still room for us to all try a spot of fishing. Royston teaching Paul the ropes.



I'm not too sure how well the teaching went as Paul doesn't seem to have grasped the idea of what to do with the bait...








Royston was the successful fisherman of the day catching a nice kahawai for smoking later.

Mangawhai Carnival

Today we headed up to Mangawhai to check out their annual carnival. First stop was to look out over to Mangawhai Heads.






The carnival was very popular with both locals and holidaymakers, braving the heat and humidity of over 90%! There were numerous stalls from local artists and craftsmen selling their wares to the car boot style stalls.



There were also local food producers and wineries there, and we took the opportunity to sample some of the local wine.






Charlotte & Dougal gave us some money for Christmas and we put some of it towards a pair of these concrete plinths with ceramic tile decoration for the garden. These are made by a local couple along with other outdoor artifacts. We plan to put citronella candles in these to stop the bity insects in the evening.

New Year's Eve

We decided to have a quiet one and had a smorgasbord of seafood. Starter was pan fried prawns and scallops encrusted in macadamia nuts. We had bought the nuts the previous day whilst up the South Head peninsula.





With snapper and hapuka fillets to follow.

Happy New Year to everyone!!

Manukau Heads

At the tip of the Awhitu peninsula is the Manukau Heads lighthouse which is no longer operational as ships are now guided into the harbour by the harbourmaster via radio frequency.





The views from the top however were spectacular, looking over the southern end of the Waitakere Ranges. This is the view to Whatipu the most southern of the west coast Waitakere beaches.





Whilst further round the coast over to Huia and Cornwallis.






Ninepin rock is the furthest point into the harbour at the end of Whatipu beach, a popular but treacherous spot for fishing.






The view back to Auckland from the peninsula - city is about 90km away.

Awhitu Peninsula

Another day, another peninsula... This time we headed south to Awhitu peninsula which forms the southern end of the Manukau harbour. There's loads to see and do here so we spent time checking out places for future visits. First stop was the Awhitu regional park with some great walks and not only the beach in this photo, but another one around the headland in the distance.


We then stopped off at various beaches along the peninsula - this is Orua Bay to which we will return this summer as a nice small campsite right next to the beach.





Further round the peninsula is Wattle Bay where Royston managed to get in his last fishing of the year, no fish this time but plan to try again when camping at Orua. This is looking west towards the head of the Manukau Harbour.




The west coast Karioitahi beach stretches the length of the peninsula and reminded us a lot of our trip to Baylys Beach a year or so ago. The main difference here is the black volcanic sand. Though not the nicest beach on the peninsula, a popular spot for surfers and fishermen.

South Head Peninsula

Today we headed north west to Helensville then up the South Head peninsula. Unfortunately you can't get right to the end as private land, but the last accessible bay is Mosquito Bay - down a very steep slope which seems even steeper on the way back up!





The views out over the Kaipara Harbour were pretty spectacular - this is the area where Royston has previously been on his fishing charters, so good for him to see from a different perspective.




Also on the peninsula is a Regional Park currently in development called Te Rau Puriri. At the moment this is a working farm but eventually they plan to turn this into a park. A walk from this view point down to Waipiro Bay is the only thing there at present and we will return to do this one day soon.



Lunch was had on the shore of Lake Ototoa which is supposedly full of trout but there is a current ban on fishing there. We had the lake all to ourselves.






Our final stop of the day was Shelly Beach, a popular spot for fishermen, especially off the long wharf.





And the beach, although small, is also popular for the nearby campsite.