Kerikeri. And then Awanui a week ago

Why am I so far behind in blogging?

 We had had intel from Bernice that we needed to be in Kerikeri on a Saturday because the Saturday market featured excellent sourdough bread. And Kerikeri has a lovely NZMCA campsite right next to Rainbow Falls and a 5km walk to the Stone Store.

So from Opua we headed for Kerikeri, only stopping at Haruru Falls on the way. We knew Irene would never forgive us if we neglected to take a photo of any waterfall en route ...

The chickens had to be herded away from the wheels of the moving motorhome - fearless, they were.

Haruru Falls, aka Horseshoe Falls I think. Probably would be more impressive now we've had lots of rain ...

Getting to the NZMCA site involves skirting around Kerikeri (I think) which was fine - we didn't need to shop and blobbing for the rest of the day was on the agreed schedule.

We were warmly greeted by a bunch of Dethleff owners, and one gave me stick about where I had parked and suggested I move a bit one way or another. I asked him to stand where I should aim for ... General laughter from the group. Their advice was helpful though - the ground was a bit up and down, so moving to take advantage of the well-placed hillocks was sensible. Fortuitously, I ended up with the motorhome perfectly level. I do love it when it works out well!

David went out for a short walk which turned into a very long walk as he didn't so much get lost as misjudged where he was going... I blobbed, as planned.

The next day we went to see Rainbow Falls. Stunning.

From the look out right next to the NZMCA park

 

The rainbow through the spray.

Before we could get down to the bottom of the falls we had to go through the disinfectant station - kauri trees are being killed and the infection needs to be stopped. Short of forbidding entry to these parks, DOC has set up disinfectant stations at entry and exit points. You brush your shoes/boots and then step on the green grill. The downward pressure squirts disinfectant up on to your boots (and legs ...) Simple - and effective if people don't walk through straddling the disinfectant, dammit. Saw a runner do that and I shouted 'OI' at her but she couldn't/didn't hear - headphones.

Down the path past this impressive rockface...

to see this. 💗😍

 

And then on the 5km walk to the Stone Store. It was a lovely walk - quite challenging in places, given I lost a lot of fitness while we were in the UK. Some steep climbs - but my very challenging walk with Adair stood me in good stead!

There was a lot of asparagus weed beside the path. A huge job to get rid of it, but I reckon DOC should do so, as it will kill off native flora on the bush floor if it continues unchecked. A good holiday job for highschool students with a DOC ranger overseeing, perhaps?

Another lower set of falls on the walk

 

ACP adding context...

Interp in the powerhouse. We DOC people are big on interp 😊

 

The pump in the old powerhouse - I sent this photo to Jim who I worked with in Hokitika on the remediations of Waiuta Prohibition and the Alexander Roaster and Battery. Jim is rather fond of powerhouses and machinery like this. He was pleased I sent them - he had been here but lost his photos!

I am not sure what has stripped the bark from this tree.

Carbuncles on trees? What's that about?

 

I'm not sure that waterlilies belong in native bush, but hey, they do look lovely. I sent the photo to our neighbour Janet to show her what the ones in our ponds COULD look like.

The cafe in the foreground and the Stone Store over to the left. The Mission House is there too, hiding behind the tree.

The Kerikeri Basin is around to the right.

 

We had a lovely brunch at the cafe, explored the Stone Store, bought bone and paua earrings in the shape of long feathers, and walked back to the motorhome.

The Rainboaw Falls on our way back: still beautiful.

And from the top again

ACP blobbing - he is doing more of this than I am currently ...

 

The following day was Market Day and Bernice was right: the sourdough is excellent. And so were the scones, the veg pies and the pastries...

Before we could leave Kerikeri, we had a problem to sort out - the monitor for the new rear vision camera is attached to the windscreen by suction. However, I reckon that the monitor is too heavy to be supported by the suction cup that is only relying on the vacuum between the cup and the windscreen, and it kept falling off. So before we left Kerikeri we had to find a permanent solution. In the interim, I had used the extremely strong and wide waterproof tape to strap the monitor on the dash in an upright position - it looked very naff, but it was effective. But for how long?

So after the market, we headed for Repco. The young woman managing the shop on Saturday is very knowledgeable and she recommended supa-glue. Scary stuff, that... But I bought it.

We had decided to head for Kaitaia that day; however not far out of Kerikeri, I saw the sign for Matauri Bay and I pulled over. At least 2 people had said Matauri Bay was a must stay. So I asked ACP what he thought, got the go ahead (well, the go right actually) and off we went.

What a magic place! The campgrounds are basic, the facilities are plain and very clean, the sites are large and the reception from the staff in the campstore is wonderful. We had arrived before lunchtime, and that was not a problem. They asked where we would like to position ourselves and sent us off to look and come back to tell them of our decision.

We had a blobby afternoon and we did get the laundry done and hung out on their clothesline. And sat outside having a slice of the Kerikeri sourdough ..

David put his slice on the seat instead of his side-table and look what happened... I refused to clean his jeans.because I figure cleaning his bum is his job now he is ostensibly a grownup.

 One burst of energy struck me and I suggested that if we were going to (ACP had requested that we do) put up the BUG (blow up gazebo), then now was the time.

So we did - where is Olek when you need him? It went up - pumping it up took about 5 minutes (good), pegging it down took about 50 minutes (not good). Sitting in it in the shade and warm breeze (very good).

 

And up it comes

There was a 50 minute gap between the last photo and this one - pegs, guy-ropes. And David is trying to position the ground sheet. Lesson learned is to attach it before blowing up the gazebo. Two reasons: it helps define the shape of the hexagon, and the clips are hard to attach to the bottom of the already inflated tubes.

And it opens both ends so we could look at the view of two different beaches

It's rather large so it's a good thing that Matauri Bay has big sites!

 

The view to the rear

That little piece of cloth is meant to hook on to the struts to cover the workings at the top. Neither of us are tall enough - Olek, come back!!

Sun, but no breeze, blobbing and reading. There's no cup on my side-table, so I must be waiting for tea. Why am I waiting, I ask! Or am I just finishing the current cup and about to ask for a refill?

 

David went off to the camp shop and bought frozen crumbed hoki fillets and a bag of frozen chips, I cooked them and made a waldorf salad and some tartare sauce. Yum.

In the morning, we walked up to the Rainbow Warrior Memorial - a bit of a steep slog. I was kitted out in my boots and we had a hiking stick each. Other people walked in their jandals 🙅.

Interp and a man reading it with the eyes in the back of his head...

The walk to the bottom of the track was a VERY long one

Some rather large homes around the corner from the campsite - seen from a short way up the steep path - an excuse to stop...

And the view from the next breather stop

 

I made several stops as we ascended, but the views did need to be photographed

Part of the campsite - our motorhome is obscured by the large stand of beautiful pohutukawa at the base of the hill.

Impressive views from the top.

Apparently the Rainbow Warrior was scuttled out to the seaward side of the large island and is now a dive spot.

The memorial - a rainbow made of black stones and the ship's propeller

A steep descent

Looking down the hill.

The wind was coming up as we descended, so I decided we needed to get the BUG down and packed up. It would have been quite quick to deflate if ACP had taken out the chairs and tables as he had indicated he would. I was brave and went in to retrieve them...

Then the task was to get the pegs out while preventing the BUG from flying away to the other side of the campsite, across the beach and into the sea. We had to drag it round the back of the motorhome out of the wind, so we could fully deflate it (by rolling on it) and then roll it up and stuff it in its bag. I didn't see anyone taking photos of the circus, but wish someone had - it must have looked nutbar - two 70+ greyhaired short adults squashing the air out of a gazebo that has an over-inflated view of its independence.

We managed it just in time - within 5 minutes of having the BUG stowed inside back under the dining table, the rain came down in buckets and stayed that way for the rest of the day pretty much. I DO like an excuse for a legitimate blobby afternoon!

But one task did get done - I supa-glued the suction cup to the windscreen, taped it up to make sure it stayed in position, and then waited! 

Rain!! And a partial view of the supa-glued suction cup with tape.

The following day was my birthday (ooh goody, blog, I'm catching up! I'm now only 8 days behind) and after I loaded the suction cup and its bendy cable with the monitor (it stayed on), we headed to Kaitaia along SH10. The roads up here are winding and hilly and with all the rain they've had, they have some surface pitting and lifted asphalt. Makes for a bit of a bumpy ride, but it's understandable. Large trucks (logging and others), climate change (heavy rain, cyclones) have taken their toll. And currently a part of SH1 (at Mangamuku) is closed until late 2024 because of extensive slip damage during weather events that culminated with Cyclone Gabriel. The road has been closed since mid 2022.

We had intended to go and park up in the Kaitaia RSA Bowling Club carpark, but on looking at the map, I realised we had to go through Awanui and right past the NZMCA Park there. So Awanui it was! And Awanui was closer to Cape Reinga which was our next scheduled place to visit. Seemed silly to drive further away...

I sent this to 2IJ because they indulge in the diabolical practice of combining socks and sandals. I hate to say it but I do see some NZers indulging in it too. I am considering taking legal action...

We have sold Waka Huia

 Sad happy is how we are feeling at the moment.***

Thank you to the people at ABNB who've done a great job as brokers. Alice, Emma and Daniel, and Technical Director Justin who resolved the starting issue which gave us heart failure when we heard about it.

Thank you to Ian and Irene for all your help in getting the boat ready to go on the market as we travelled together from Hawkesbury Junction to Hillmorton. And your then getting the list of tasks done that Debdale were unable to complete in a timely way and delivering the boat up to North Kilworth was a huge help and a relief to us.

Thank you also to Julia and Maggie who came and took away food and linen and bedding so the boat was cleared before we left it at Debdale - so we could catch our flight home.

And thanks to the lovely Ed Shiers who has been an absolute treasure to us since 2014 - Ed first came and did some work on the boat at Bollington, after hours, on his way home from a full day's work, stayed an hour and a half and only wanted to charge us £50, if I remember rightly. Hell no, we said, and paid him £90. Ever since then, he has been our go to person - apart from Ian, our lovely man who can, who stepped up this last season to resolve on the spot issues.

And posthumous thanks and hugs to the inimitable Mick Granger who did lots of wonderfully skilled work onboard Waka Huia, all of which has been recorded in the blog. Rest in Peace, mate. And thank you, old buddy, old pal.

And thank you to the Debdale team who have looked after Waka Huia so well since we started leaving it there on the hard each autumn. This year, before we arrived, Wal did a lovely job replacing water-stained/damaged woodwork in the saloon and sealing the window and porthole frames that were leaking. All of the Debdale team have been kind and helpful and warm and friendly to us over the years and we really appreciate it.

Just so you know, all of you deserved all the cheese scones and meals I made - and more!

And thank you to all the friends and family who came and joined us on board - we loved having people with us to share the pleasure. 

Thanks also to all the people we met along the way, friends we made, and those we spoke with as we passed them by walking or boating. 

And thank you to all the fabulous dogs - you gave us hundreds of opportunities to speak to your humans - you know how shy English people can be, but praising you lights them up and has them break into conversation - and David and I love making those connections, no matter how fleeting. Seeing your owners respond so positively and knowing for many of them it may be the only human interaction they have in a day, is a gift for us and it is a gift you give them - go, dogs!!

It was really important to us that we sell the boat in good condition, with no hidden problems, without having to cross our fingers and hope the surveyor missed something serious or otherwise. We remember when we bought the boat back in late 2013, we were reassured by the surveyor's report but didn't know how to interpret surveyor-speak. Later we realised that the surveyor tells you what is there but doesn't often say if it is useful (like the 24v 150amp alternator that killed the engine's motive power and was the reason we first had Ed come to help us out). And they use the phrase 'cannot confirm' which means 'didn't check' (see below). And we didn't realise that they don't check the electrics (just say what the system is), and they don't check the engine.

So it was critical to us that the electrics were in good order, that the engine had been serviced very recently, that the paintwork had been cut and polished, that the roof had been sanded back and repainted, that the interior was washed down, and the tabletop was sanded and treated with Danish oil, there was a new mattress and a heap of spare parts - most of which we could have sold, but which we wanted a new owner to have for a sense of safety and preparedness.

Selling the boat has been a nerve-wracking process - you may recall that David and I don't do uncertainty... And over the last fortnight or so, since we received an offer, we have checked emails in the dead of night when getting up for a pee - but I reckon the wakefulness was less caused by bladders and more prompted by whether there was a missive from ABNB...

There's waiting for the survey, and then there's waiting for the purchaser to respond to the survey report they receive but we don't. Only 3 things which the purchaser wanted addressed: the surveyor couldn't confirm (read: didn't check) that the shore hook up worked, he couldn't confirm the immersion heater worked (it doesn't because we disconnected it - too hungry on the battery - and that was noted on the switchboard below the MCB and explained in the manual we provided) and he couldn't start the engine (weird).

The last item was the one that caused us conniptions, given our desire to sell the boat in good condition. We've never had trouble starting the boat apart from when a glow plug went tits up some years ago and Ed changed them all. North Kilworth Marina couldn't get on to looking at it for several days, and the purchaser wanted early resolution - as did we (nearly called Ed ... did talk to Ian who said glow plugs). So ABNB's technical director came and looked and found a cable needed re-crimping between the starter motor and glowplugs. Doh! 

A compression test was undertaken (thanks, Justin) requested by the purchaser which we decided to pay for and all was sorted.

Well, I say that - the next phase was completing the paperwork and arranging for the money to be paid to us. Weirdly, the original email we got re payment said that the sale could be completed with emailed signatures on the Bill of Sale, but to release the funds to us, ABNB would need to receive the originals posted back by snail mail. I did note politely that it seemed anomalous to me that the boat could be handed over on the strength of an emailed document, but we couldn't receive payment under the same conditions. Emma, bless her, sent us electronic forms to sign and to get witnessed to then be able to release the funds.

All done satisfactorily and we are now rich again - well, not really; in fact, not at all! But the bank balance is a bit healthier. Long may it remain so - but yesterday David fell in love with a table top made from slabs of swamp kauri embedded in resin... No we are not buying it, but good heavens, it was beautiful! And only $5600 - not much if you say it quickly ...

So for readers who are boaters, if you see Waka Huia** out and about, please say hello to Charles and Lucy. Julia says to ask them for cheese scones ...

** We don't know if they will keep the name, but I do hope so.

I found this photo from our first season onboard (2014) - it epitomises why we bought the boat and what we found so compelling about our time onboard. In this shot, Barry and Pauline are on board with us. We are moored up at the bottom of the Marple flight of locks. David and Pauline were setting up the table and chairs for drinks and nibbles on the towpath. Barry had gone for a walk and took this lovely shot. We had had a weekend with B&P and Pete and Melanie where we had boated down to Bugsworth Basin. M&P had caught the train to Manchester then points south, B&P were going back to London a couple of days later, as it transpired - after a couple of days of boating in the rain...

 *** I have read this to David. He is a weepy mess now ... Ooops! Clearly, I am still a bitch 😇.

More of Russell

 In the morning, we headed for Pompallier House and were a bit early arriving so we looked around the outside and chatted to some people on their bikes. The roadway is quite narrow there so when a car came along, I backed myself hard up into the gateway so she could get past me. However the driver was only paying attention to the standing cyclist on the other side of the street, and carefully avoiding her, but was about to take me out! I slapped the bonnet of her car and shouted at her to stop. Aaarrrggghhh!!! And once the driver had moved on, the husband of the cyclist suggested that the problem was that it was a woman driver. I must have been in shock, because in behaviour quite unlike me, I wielded my hiking stick like a taiaha (I'm a quick learner) and swished it around near his head, neck and genitals. Although I think Māori warriors aimed for the belly, but I added my own fighting principles...

While the cyclists and David headed off for the tour of house, the printing shop and bindery, I had decided I would sit that one out at the cafe. An hour, they said. But neither they nor I had banked on the tour guide being so enthusiastic and that David would be so keen to keep up the conversation that he would remain in the shop afterwards for another 10 minutes ... And I was hungry and had been looking forward to breakfast again at the Seaside Cafe. But by the time we got there they were on to the lunch menu, dammit. Still, they did me an omelette which was yummy.

The woman at the museum had said we must go and view the statue at the end of the wharf - it welcomes visitors and sees them on their way.

Walking back along the Strand, we had to stop and watch the process of getting the bed base down from the upstairs room. The two guys had already thrown the mattress down on to the lawn. At first they were going to lower the base on ropes, but decided to toss it down on to the mattress. I was worried that the dog was going to get in the way - squashed chocolate labrador mixed with raspberry jus is not a good look on a sunny day! And imagine the noise! Successful landing though - no dog was harmed and the base landed almost entirely on the mattress.

Fortified with food and having had our fill of free local entertainment, we headed off to walk up to Flagstaff Hill where Hone Heke and his men chopped down the flagpole four times. They must have been very fit because it's a solid slog uphill all the way - he and his men would have done it at night through the bush, I expect.  In 2023, fortunately for us doing it in the midday heat of a very warm day, most of it was on shady road because of the trees - I don't do heat well...

The views from the top were stunning. 

There was a couple from this cruise ship up on the hill.

Looking back down to Russell

Looking over to the Treaty Grounds at Waitangi - the flagpole there is clearly visible.

Easy to see why this area is called the Bay of Islands

Mosaic map of the Bay of Islands

I can't remember what I was pointing at ...

Interesting that I have no photos of the actual flagstaff ...
 

We chatted to a few people, one of whom (Nicolle) is from London and over here on a young person's work visa. She will be travelling further south (I hope she won't be disappointed, given how absolutely beautiful this area is) and we have asked her to stay with us and even given her Kirsty's phone number so she can contact her when she goes to Sydney after her NZ sojourn. Oops, haven't told Kirsty yet... 

Back down we went and along to the Duke Of Marlborough Hotel for a glass of lemon lime and bitters. (The woman at the museum had told us we must go there for a drink, honest...) And while we were sitting outside, along came the group of cyclists we'd seen at Pompallier House minus the one I had figuratively done to death with my taiaha hiking stick. We got to chatting, as we do, and discovered they were from Taranaki. We asked about their cycling trip - the absent one was already doing a piece of it they didn't want to. I was relieved that I hadn't caused his demise. We said we were too anxious to do that trip although it had been our intention when we set out from home. We said we had a friend who'd come off her bike in Onaero. JUDY they all yelled. 

Talk about 2 degrees of separation! It turns out that Bethne and Adrienne are both teachers who know Jim and Judy well, that Adrienne and her husband Rob (my putative victim) were at one of the Burns Night dinners we attended at J&Js' place.

Bethne, Adrienne and Mike

David and I with Adrienne, Bethne and Mike - taken by an amused and bemused passer-by - we were making quite a lot of noise, to be fair!

They got drinks and joined us but had to race through them so they would not miss their ferry. Still, I think we need to catch up with them when we head back into Taranaki before Xmas. I wonder if Judy will be home from the brain injury rehab place in Kenepuru by then?

After all of that excitement, we headed back up to the motorhome and had a blob - before heading back down to the Green Thai restaurant - delightful place with very delicious food. And it was delivered to our table by robot - what next!? We thought the robot was probably related to Henare, our robot vacuum cleaner.

After dinner, a peaceful walk back up the hill carrying our leftovers and the yellow curry (veg, no tofu) that I had ordered as a takeaway - tomorrow night's dinner... 

I really think  Russell is a place we will come back to, even if it's only as foot passengers from Paihia - the Thai restaurant is open for lunch 👍😀

Russell - Kororāreka

Sunset at Waitangi Holiday Park - beaut place to stay!

 

While in Paihia and Waitangi we debated whether to go over to Russell as foot passengers on the ferry from Paihia but decided that Russell was worth a couple of days of exploring. So it was off to Opua to get on the vehicle ferry.

We knew from Bernice that we needed to travel quite close to high tide time because of the slope down on to the ferry and the possible impact on the back of the motorhome... High tide was at about 8.30am so we were up and away at not quite at the crack of dawn!

We drove on to the ferry and were very excited - I had to get up close to a large truck and trailer unit, having gone past a concrete truck first. In the interests of keeping the motorhome in one piece, once stopped we retracted the mirrors ... 

We asked if we could get out, and yes we could. Took photos, I waved at the skipper in his eyrie, and notice every other driver still had their engines running - no wonder, because it was about a 6 minute trip! So quickly back in the motorhome, start it up and ready to drive off at Okiata. 

Up close and personal ...

 

Isn't that beaut?

The ferry coming from Okiato

Not many vehicles on that one - but there was a very long queue at Okiato when we arrived. Commuters, I guess.

Getting close to the landing wharf - took us by surprise!

How old am I? Waving to the skipper ...😊

Very friendly...

My travelling companion of 50 years!

 

Mirror image, but I am here too.

We drove straight to the Top10 motorcamp and parked across the road where we could leave the motorhome until check in time. 

 

Some of the pohutukawa are already in flower

 

Waterfront views at Russell - beautiful.

 

A woman visiting from Colorado took this photo of us when we were on our way to breakfast. I am not sure why I was standing so far away from David - weird! The Colorado woman and her husband were on a 2 week tour of NZ. They'd arrived in Auckland the previous day and driven to Russell. The following day they were driving to Rotorua, then flying to Christchurch and driving to Queenstown and Milford Sound - all the highlights ticked off, eh...

Then we walked further along The Strand and had breakfast at The Seaside Cafe - yummy! It was a lovely day, so we ate outside, had three phone calls while we were there:

• Irene and Ian who we called to inspire jealousy
• Marta (calling from Scotland) who rang for an overdue catch-up and told us that Karol is now 154.5cm, so my height. He's been aiming to get taller than me since he was about 11, and it's almost happened! And considering Olek is now 180cm but was shorter than me till he was almost 14, Karol is matching him. I wonder if he will get to 180cm too? If yes, then he too will be taller than his dad
• Adair calling from Pukawa for a lovely catch up.
  

 

Then it was off exploring on foot:

• the library and museum grounds
• a chat with a guy out on the verandah
• Walker passage
  
  

  

  There is a certain irony in the clause above: 'Ngapuhi chief who was granted land here in 1866 by the Government...' I think the ellipsis in the notice indicates that the irony is not lost on the museum and Heritage Trails people!
  

  
  
  
  
   

  

  The entrance to Walker Passage
  

  
  

  

  Tamati Waka Nene lived his life by 6 'points of illumination in his life', each of which is represented by the pou, three in this photo, (his father, his mother and his birth into Te Ao Māori) and
  

 

three in this (his prowess in hapu and iwi wars, the death of his children who predeceased him, and the Declaration of Independence and Te Tirit and his promise to support the Crown). The Library is behind, with the museum in the part of the building to the left.

The detailed descriptions of the pou are in this interpretation

 

The chimney from Nene's house has been made into a seat

• the museum - we are finding that little town museums are really good: filled with interesting local artefacts and information, and the staff are super helpful and knowledgeable. There was a map outside the museum with local walks and the staff person told us about them and that we must go to Pompallier House and to The Duke of Marlborough Hotel.
  

  

  Information about Hone Heke - we climbed up to the flagstaff the next day, so there's more later...
  

  
  

  

  Kawiti fought the last battle of the Northern War at Ruapekapeka Pa which we went to before we headed to Otamure Bay. The pa is an amazing place.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Good information in here.
  

  
  

  

  I though Karol would love this calendar...
  

• 
  
  
• So off we went to Pompallier House, joined the NZ Historic Society, had a great chat with the two women working in the shop, bought some earrings, and explored the garden. Then we booked in for the tour the next morning.

I bought some wildflower seeds harvested from this garden...

The Printery with the beautiful gardens in front.

 

I have no idea what this is, but it looks pretty impressive!

 We called in at the lovely Four Square shop and the bookshop (maps to assist in having the geography of Te Tai Tokerau make sense to us, and rulers so I could repair, or at least prop up, the broken shelf in the fridge, and a magnetic road sign.

On the way back to the Top10 - lovely purple tree!

We got parked up on the top level of the camp and set out the chairs to while away the rest of the afternoon enjoying the view out across the bay, feeding the weka, getting a load of laundry washed and dried, and giving up on the idea of going out for dinner...

Husband at rest - not sure what he was listening to.

As the sun was starting to go down, after we'd had dinner.

Tui in the flax

The weka - scrounging for food