Anzac Bay to Tauranga to Mount Manganui...

An early morning cycle ride along the edge of the estuary was a joy. We thought we’d come to an ordinary little seaside resort: and, on one level, we had. We cycled past holiday homes, empty for the winter, although our little camping spot at the end of the spit began to fill up rapidly with motorhomes, coming in for the weekend. 

But it was the birds which delighted: every tree had a tui singing its heart out. My mild obsession with variable oystercatchers is nothing compared to my need to stop and listen to every tui I hear, searching for it among the thick foliage. The song – trills, chatters, bells, whistles and croaks – is just a delight.  Among the seedling mangroves at the water’s edge we would see a handful of kingfishers together; white-faced herons stately in the water; and a pied shag, a ‘locally common native’. Lovely.

And a coffee stop on the way home; sign in the cafe: Unattended children will be given espresso and a kitten to take home.

A slow and leisurely drive then, to Tauranga.  (Toe-wronger!). Every trip in this camper van is slow and leisurely – there is no other way of driving it. At least, not one that wouldn’t have me screaming and grabbing on for safety. No cowboy driving here.

Toured Tauranga a little, looking for our meeting place with Cat for tomorrow. Wedding dress shopping! An appointment at a bridal boutique, but we’ll see...Then a large campsite at Mount Maunganui.  Electricity and more neighbours than we are used to, but still a wonderful view of the sea – the Bay of Plenty.

Straight out of the van and on our way up the Mount.  A mere 285 metres, climbing up via steps and a somewhat circular 4WD track. I was VERY grateful that I have been doing more and more walking. No problem with the knee!! Thank you God! Thank you walking poles! Thank you walking practice!

And amazing views from the top...

Back down, there was nothing else to do but visit the Hot Pools next door to the campsite.  (We even got a discount for being campsite members...) Steaming hot salt water open-air baths – powerful jets massaging aching muscles, a relaxed clientele of families and people (men AND women) with more tattoos than we have ever seen in one place: we don’t get out much. Wonderful.

Wahey!

Dawn at Pauanui

We tore ourselves away from the New Zealand dotterels at Pauanui – pairs  of them strutting at regular intervals along the beach. They seemed incredibly tame and unafraid of us – rather like the variable oystercatchers, who were not at all variable, just black. I have to confess to having a little obsession about oystercatchers. Love them. Our early morning walk the length of the beach – just over two miles – took us past dogs being walked and unusual little shells, especially a collection of cone shells.

It is wonderful to be able to walk more easily. #practicemakesperfect  #nowaywillIhaveakneereplacementifIhaveanythingtodowithit

Negotiating the winding switchbacks through the forests, we aimed for goldmining town Waihi.  It is only a few years since the mine closed and is slowly being turned into a historic attraction by the company, corporate giant Newmont.

Interesting facts:

One tonne of rock produced between 3 – 8 grammes of gold.

The open cast mine went to a depth of 600 metres – now it is a vast open pit approximately 1200 metres across.

There were 15 different levels and around 175km of underground tunnels

There were around 400 workers, but in its heyday at the beginning of the twentieth century there were 15,000.

The project is aiming to replant kauri: one tree for every man year worked? Sounds incredible!

One tyre cost $20,000 - yes, I DID mean 4 zeros...

This ex-mining town had a frontier-style main street, a surprisingly prosperous air, a few visitors, and a German bakery/cafe, run by a young German immigrant. And as Lonely Planet says: Where most towns have hole-in-the-wall ATMs for people to access their reiches riches, Waihi’s main street has a giant open-cast gold mine: Martha Mine, NZ’s richest, working since 1878.

After Waihi we aimed for the Karangahake Gorge a few miles away, but there had been a terrible accident along the road earlier in the day, so the road was closed. Many cars were parked, waiting for it to open again. We took the bikes and cycled along the old tramway by the river until we came to a kilometre long tunnel cut all the way through the hill.  We started down it...

Karangahake Gorge

Chickened out from going all the way through - 1 kilometre, with no torch or lights... and then would have had to have cycled all the way back again, with no torch or lights...

...and, after a third of the way and increasing darkness, turned around. The prospect of battling the gloom only to have to retrace our steps wheels was too daunting.

The ride back was accompanied by dozens of fantails fluttering by the side of the rushing rapids. The road was still closed, so we journeyed back to Waihi and Waihi Beach, down the long peninsula. Surf to our left, a quiet inlet to our right. At the end, Anzac Bay. Peaceful car park with a few overnight camper vans next to the Pohutukawa trees...a headland overlooking the Katikati entrance to Tauranga (Toe-wronger) harbour, an easy climb of 88 metres....and, in the early morning, long calls from the Morepork, the New Zealand owl. 

More-pork; more-pork; more-pork...

Exercise....Excitement...

Up with - actually, some hours before - the sunrise at Cathedral Cove. It had rain-spattered intermittently throughout the night, after a clear moonlit start.

Aka, noisy in a campervan. Dawn was worth getting up for - but, of course, it ALWAYS is. The new day reminds that God's mercies are new every morning.

This trip is SUCH a privilege. I am very mindful of so many who can only dream of undertaking such travel - moving freely about from one place to another, stopping at whim whenever the fancy takes us, choosing wonderful 'camping' places in the spur of the moment...

I feel rather like Toad of Toad Hall: "`There you are!' cried the Toad, straddling and expanding himself...`There's real life for you, embodied in that little cart. The open road, the dusty highway, the heath, the common, the hedgerows, the rolling downs! Camps, villages, towns, cities! Here to-day, up and off to somewhere else to-morrow! Travel, change, interest, excitement! The whole world before you, and a horizon that's always changing!"
Spoilt, so appreciating every minute, every turn of the road, every new glimpse of amazing natural scenery...

So, off to Hot Water Beach.  Within two hours of low tide, it is possible to dig a large hole in the beach just above the water line. Hot springs bubble up through the sand, almost scalding until they mix with the cooler sea water.

We set to work. First exercise of the day, digging our hole. A metal colander and bowl proved to be the perfect implements for the job.

It was amazing, sitting in warm water in the middle of NZ winter. The equivalent of the end of January in Europe. There were quite a few people on the beach... can't imagine it in summer!

Then we explored a former mining settlement in Broken Hills before ending up for the night freedom camping in Pauanui: a purpose built holiday resort, full of opulent homes. Here in winter, it had an eerie, deserted air. Pauanui, according to Lonely Planet, is "an upmarket refugee camp for over-wealthy Aucklanders – the kind who jet in and park their private planes by their grandiose beach houses before knocking out a round of golf... "

Dolphins in the harbour

Campsite at Pauanui

Yet, within minutes of arriving, we saw a stunning rainbow and a pod of dolphins playing near the harbour. This is a haven for the lovely New Zealand dotterell...and countless oyster catchers.

Cathedral Cove

New Zealand's iconic beach: easy to see why. The photos speak for themselves...

"'What I call' Cathedral Cove," said Richard.

It IS Cathedral Cove.

And he's not even a 'Miranda' fan.

Seen en route....#Coromandel