Nissan on hire

Being peak season it seemed that all the campervans in our price bracket were all booked out so plan b was a car for one week to do the northlands stretch, the area above Auckland to Cape Regina and then loop round to pick up the camper back in Auckland a week later to see the rest is the north island i.e everything south of Auckland.

So our new wheels for now are a Nissan saloon, taxi like, just lacking in roof mounted neon sign. Where do ya wanna go gov?  All the way to the Cape we cried !

Not far to our first stop (but to be fair after Oz nothing will be too far) Muriwai Beach. A great looking wide open bay with a clean 3ft wave peeling away. Plenty of locals here having fun on their Sunday, times like these you miss your sticks. 50km plus of surf beach with dunes of black sand, ah not too bad long may this continue.

This place is lucky, or unlucky, depending on your point of view, to have a gannet colony (1 of only 3 in NZ).  Gannets first came to Motutara island in 1975 and they are gradually taking over the surrounding islands and headlands to a point where public viewing platforms over these areas have to be constantly monitored and moved where necessary as the birds slowly spread out. The birds arrive between July and October to lay their eggs. Chicks are born naked and blind 45 days later.

We reached as far as Matakohe and found a lovely site and cabin, well when I say cabin it was more like a oversized posh shed but never the less very homely. This gave us a few hours sat in the sun to complete a few odd jobs ( Fe did some sewing and I read my book).

Tonight a rare alfresco meal was had outside number 7. Admittedly it was only beans on toast (much craved) but it was served with strong local cheddar and a large dollop of christmas present marmite, what living hey. This activity has been a rarity till now. It was great to just sit in the evening sun overlooking the Arapaoa River and not have to worry about the dreaded 'bugs' of the night or listen to those damn grasshoppers at 90 decabels. This place was blissfully silent.