The Motutapu camp at Administration Bay is an ex-WW2 military facility that is now used mostly by school groups for outdoor education. When it is not full of school kids, members of the public can book the old barracks for group events. One of Felicity’s colleagues has a great love of the island, and decided to hold a weekend party to celebrate her 50th birthday.
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Tag: beach
Awhitu and Manukau Heads
Even though we knew there was rain forecast this weekend we decided to spend a couple of nights at Awhitu Regional Park and go for a kayak.
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Kaikoura – Picton
After lunch in Kaikoura, we had a wander along the beach and over the rocky foreshore. There is a seal colony here, but the seals were heavily outnumbered by tourists. We had considered going for a kayak, or perhaps even a snorkel, but the weather was overcast and windy, so the sea was not very inviting.
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Moeraki
In the town of Moeraki, just south of the famous boulders, we found a commercial camp-ground overlooking the wharf. If the weather had been a bit clearer we might have been able to see the boulders as well, but the view was limited by the low cloud.
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Trotter’s Gorge
It started raining again as we left Central Otago and drove out towards the coast. We parked up for a while in Ranfurly where there was internet available, but we weren’t tempted to stray far from the van.
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Lake Paringa
By the time we re-joined the highway at Fox Glacier we were ready for lunch, so we sat in the hotel carpark eating and doing a bit of work while we had internet available. There is no cellphone coverage south of Fox until you reach Hawea on the other side of the Southern Alps.
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Gillespies Beach
20 kilometres along a winding metal road out of Fox Glacier is Gillespies Beach. When Felicity was a teenager she and a friend rode all the way out and back on bikes, which is very impressive because this would be a big mission for me now. She has wanted to return ever since, so here we are.
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Hari Hari
Heavy rain forecast for Friday made us decide to hang around Hokitika so that we could get some work done using the wifi in their public library. The Motor Caravan Association has a campsite just across the bridge from town, so we found ourselves a spot there.
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Lake Kaniere
Just south of Greymouth is the town of Kumara where the famous Coast To Coast multi-sport race starts. Joy suggested that we head out to the start line and walk along the beach to the mouth of the Serpentine River.
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Fox River Caves
Bullock Creek didn’t flood and wash us away during the night, so we woke to another fine day in paradise. After breakfast we drove back down to the highway, then even further north to the carpark at the mouth of Fox River, where the Inland Pack Track begins.
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Constant Bay
Just south of Westport is Charleston, which used to be bustling town with a population of 30,000 people. It was also once the demographic centre of New Zealand, ie: 50% of the countries population lived south of it. Nowadays there are less than 300 permanent residents, and the demographic centre is probably somewhere near Hamilton.
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Lake Otuhie
After a stop in Takaka to stock up on food and diesel, and for me to do a couple of urgent web update jobs for clients, we drove out past Collingwood to the west coast.
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Totaranui
My last visit to Totaranui was almost three decades ago when Felicity and I tramped the Able Tasman Track. That time we just passed through this huge camping area, so it has been nice to spend a bit more time here.
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Takaka
With our stowaway rat on board we drove over the hill from Nelson to Golden Bay. Ms Rat was obviously rather hostile about us killing her babies, because she had destroyed a brand new packet of coffee overnight.
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Saul’s Naming Day in Noosa
My latest grandson Saul is almost five months old, but getting his extended family together in one place has taken a bit of time to organise. Felicity, Judith and I flew over to Brisbane on Friday morning, at the civilised time of 9.30am.
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Apia
Felicity is not normally a person who responds to on-line adverts, but the when a message appeared on her tablet one cold grey morning at breakfast offering a very cheap five night package holiday in Samoa, she checked her diary and discovered a mostly free week. We had hoped to enjoy some summer weather during our recent Scotland trip, but it just didn’t happen, so I think she felt a bit deprived.
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Sound of Arisaig
We have spent the last six days kayaking around the Sound of Arisaig with Wilderness Scotland. Most days we have arrived back at our accommodation with just enough time for a quick shower before heading out to dinner at a local pub, following which I’ve collapsed exhausted into bed with no time to write a daily blog post. For the last three days we haven’t even had wifi, so the only available internet has been outside where the midges attack mercilessly.
Rosemarkie
We have done a lot of driving today, so now we are back in the lowlands, a few miles north-east of Inverness on the shore of the Moray Firth.
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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