We left Whatuwhiwhi and headed for Kaitaia for supplies. We are doing a Tapas dish each tonight (limit of $5 per dish).
We are staying at Ahipara, right on 90 mile beach in a self contained (luxury) apartment for just $180 for the four of us.
We went for a swim and boogie board followed by quad biking along 90 mile beach.
Lynda driving:
Chrissie driving:
And Mike driving:
And the girls on their boogie boards:
Tomorrow we will post photos of Lynda and Chrissie doing their tandem skydive.
Matauri Bay was soooo beautiful we decided to spend the morning there. We went for a snorkel and the water was so clear. We saw loads of big fish and wished we had our rods with us.
This was the beach we camped at Matauri Bay.
We continued on our road trip to Whatawhiwhi, where we found another campsite on the beach. We blew up our inflatable kayak and Lynda and Chrissie hired some kayaks, and we went for a paddle, stopping at some bays for a swim and snorkel.
Another perfect and beautiful spot and I think they are right about “The Winterless Far North”
Here is the beach we stayed at in Whatuwhiwhi
Just a short drive today. We stopped in Russell for a coffee, caught the car ferry, stopped in Pahia for a quick look then stopped around 2pm at a Matauri Bay, which is a gorgeous spot right on the beach. In fact there are two beaches. We just spent the afternoon doing some swimming and boogie boarding and generally just relaxing. Lynda and Chrissie booked a cabin and me and Mike tented.
The first beach
And the other beach:
We vacated our lovely free accommodation in Mangawhai Heads and continued our road trip north. We stopped at a beach for a sand castle competition. We all had 5 minutes to create our works of art for Mike to judge.
Here are the photos and the results:
A Sand Jandal – by Lynda
Sand and Stuff Castle – by Jo
A Paua Shell – by Chrissie
Lynda won first prize for originality, Jo won first prize for prettiness and Chrissie won first prize for water draining efficiency (or something like that!)
We left our works of art behind and headed off down a rugged dirt track to visit a cave.
We then stopped and looked at a big waterfall
Then we headed off to find some beachside accommodation and found a gorgeous spot right on the beach. It looked a little like rain so we decided to take a cabin. Once checked in a lot of screaming happened as it was full of spiders! We got some spray and sprayed the hell out of it but had a rather restless night worrying about spiders.
Unfortunately no one thought to take photos of the bay.
We departed Hamilton at today, hungover as hell cos Lynda insisted on opening the champagne last night when we already had a tummy full of beer and wine!
We fastracked it through Auckland, over the harbour bridge, turned off at Takapuna and followed the East Coast Bays Road. We stopped at a cafe in Mairangi Bay for a gorgeous breakfast, and soooo cheap. $10 got us 2 flat whites and a bacon and egg sandwich.
We stopped at Orewa and took some photos of kite surfers. One guy wanted us to get some photos of him airborne for a French magazine.
On the road again we did a diversion to the Puhoi pub for a beer.
Our next stop was Sandspit where I caught my first fish when I was only 5 years old. (Back when I was 5 years old my Dad put my line in the water for me and said if I feel a tug to pull it in. So I felt a tug, pulled my line in, and sure enough there was a fish on the end. )
This is the spot I caught my first fish!
Mike, sister Lynda and Chrissy in a silly photo where I caught my first fish!
We then made our way towards Mangawhai heads and got lost on a dirty gravel road, but eventually came out the end.
We are staying at a friend of Lyndas place and it is very nice and comfy.
We had pasta and salad for dinner, accompanied by many beers.