We’ve just returned from a four hour mountain trail in the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve. At this latitude, for every 300 metres you climb the environment becomes more like that 1000 km north. We’ve just been to 550 metres – the vegetation and temperature equivalent of northern Greenland, far above the Arctic Circle, according to the guide book.
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Tag: campervan
Dornie, by Kyle
This afternoon we crossed the new Skye Bridge back to the Scottish mainland, and are now parked up for the night on the hill behind Eilean Donan Castle.
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Edinbane, Isle of Skye
This morning we crossed to the Isle of Skye on Scotland’s last turntable ferry. At the begining of last century there used to be dozens of these small boats around the country, but now they have mostly been replaced with bridges.
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Rudha Buidh
This evening we are parked right on the coast looking out over the Sound of Sleat to The Isle of Skye. Just up the coast to the north is tiny Sandaig Island.
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Glen Affric
Tonight is our first night in our Advantures campervan, and we are parked near the shore of Loch Affric, in the middle of nowhere off the A831 north of Drumnadrochit.
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Moturua Island
For the final night of our Easter holiday, we drove back south and camped at Papa Aroha Holiday Park, again right on the beach.
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Coromandel Walkway
For many years Felicity and I have had an ambition to hike the walkway between Fletcher Bay and Stony Bay at the northern end of Coromandel.
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Fletcher Bay – The Pinnacles
Up at the northern end of the Coromandel Peninsular, past Cape Colville, is the beautiful DOC camp-ground at Fletcher Bay.
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Whanganui Island
In the Firth of Thames there are a group of islands running north from Coromandel. We visited some of them this Easter.
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Te Waihou Walkway
Not far from Putaruru, the Te Waihou walkway leads to the Blue Spring, which supplies 70% of NZ’s bottled water.
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Lake Okareka
With conferencing over, we spent Friday night at a DOC camp ground on the shore of Lake Okareka, off the road out to Tarawera,
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GP Conference in Rotorua
On Thursday and Friday last week Felicity was speaking at a rural doctors’ conference in Rotorua, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to have a few days away with her in the camper-van.
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Rocky’s Goldmine Trail
We spent the last night of our Anniversary Day holiday camped on the edge of the Firth of Thames at Little Waikawau Bay. We had a swim before dinner, but the water is pretty shallow, and the “beach” was stony and not easy to walk on in bare feet.
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Waiwawa River
On Sunday the wind was forecast to be a bit stronger than the day before, so we thought about kayaking from the Ferry Landing at Cooks Beach into Whitianga Harbour. One look at the choppy current rushing past the wharf made us think again, and we decided to head further inland and have a play in the Waiwawa River.
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Hauhei to Hot Water Beach
Commercial kayak tours south of Hauhei are promoted as “remote coast”, and only leave in the mornings before the wind gets up. We were on the beach ready to go soon after 8.30 am, so we had a chance to talk to the tour guide before any of his customers arrived. He told us to beware of hidden reefs, and to check out caves carefully before paddling inside. Most importantly, he drew a map on the sand to show us where to find the ‘blow hole’.
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Cathedral Cove
By the time we loaded the kayaks and all our gear into the camper-van it was nearly midday. We were keen to get down to Coromandel as soon as we could, so I drove until we reached the top of the hill on the Kopu – Hikuai road where I knew there was a nice spot to stop for lunch.
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Lake Maraetai and Mangakino Creek
The last day of our summer holiday turned out to be the best adventure of the trip, despite being immediately followed by the biggest hassle.
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Piripiri Bridge, Pohangia River
We probably chose one of the quietest nights of the year to camp beside the Manawatu River, at the eastern end of the gorge. We did hear a couple of trains go past, but almost no trucks. Continue reading Piripiri Bridge, Pohangia River
Kiriwhakapapa Road End
When we first pulled in to this DOC reserve on the edge of the Tararua mountain range, I though we might have the place to ourselves, but then we saw three or four other groups of campers tucked in among the bushes.
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Castle Point
It has been a while since we woke up to the sound of traffic, but surfers and fishermen get started early, and the beach below the DOC carpark at Castle Point is used by both.
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