PART TWO - MATAURI BAY
DAY 4 - Sunday 30 December 2018
Having packed up most things the night before it was a pretty easy exercise to make The Beast ship shape and ready for the road. After a quick stop at the dump station, which was easy to access and super clean we said good bye to Whangateau Motor Camp and were on our way to Matauri Bay by 9:00 am.
There was quite a lot of traffic for the first part of the trip and everyone was behaving themselves on the road, admittedly there was a HUGE Police presence. We were doing our bit to keep the holiday traffic moving by pulling over to let the faster types get passed. Just out of Whangarei we stopped at a road side stall and bought our first lot of corn on the cob for the season, oh and a watermelon.
Traffic had thinned quite a lot by the time we got to Keri Keri and we were super surprised to see how much Keri Keri had grown since we were last here. Luckily for us as we needed another camping chair which we got from the Briscoes that is now there. Stocking up on a few grocery items we thought we would fill up The Beast before hitting the beach. As we pulled in to the BP there was a motothome exactly the same as ours at the next pump. Dave said, "Snap" as he got out and the look of relief on the other couple's face was obvious! Turned out they had swapped their caravan in the South Island for their cousin's motorhome but they didn't know too much about it. Even though we haven't had The Beast very long Dave was able to stop them from putting petrol in to their diesel engine and explained how they should be using their fridge.
The short trip to Matauri Bay was marred only by some ejit in a motorhome who passed us on a blind corner which got the appropriate horn blasts and hand signals from both us and the on coming vehicle that had to take evasive action.
As we drove down the hill to Matauri Bay, although the approach road had changed the beach was still a sight to behold.
Before heading to our site we needed to fill up with drinking water and I have to say that was a bit of a mission. There are not an abundance of taps in this holiday park and although there is a dump station the access to it was blocked by boats, vehicles and campers. We realised that we needed to make full use of the camps facilities and take the pressure off our fresh water tank and the grey water tank!
It didn't take long to set up The Beast then it was time to re-acquaint ourselves with this little piece of heaven. The campground was chokka and made us realise that we were very lucky to get a booking here. The beach, with its long stretch of fine, pristine white sand was just as inviting as we remembered and the camp staff were just as friendly. The trip up the hill to see the Rainbow Warrior monument was just as steep and the view from the top just as stunning.
The Pahia Dive trip to the Rainbow Warrior left from beside our site and they were just getting back as we arrived. Ironically the Dive Master was French!
We had learnt as we were arriving that we had just missed catching up with Alana but luckily her folks, Brian and Cathy were still here so it was great to see them again. We also met up with Craig from school - New Zealand is such a small place really.
Our cunning plan for the next day was to get up early to go fishing so the rest of the afternoon was spent blowing up the Takacat (and the SUP Board) ready for the mornings excursion. Once all that was sorted we headed to the beach with the afore mentioned SUP board and discovered how the northern waters were still quite chilly, quite chilly indeed.
After a Green Basil Curry we hit the sack early in preparation for being rudely awakened by the alarm we had set.
DAY 5 - Monday 31 December 2018
Although it was a bit of a shock to hear the alarm go off it was a beautiful clear sky and not too cold so we headed to the sea. Matauri Bay has always been a bit tricky to launch a boat and just because we now have a much smaller Takacat - from here on referred to as The Little Beauty (See what I have done there, The Little Beauty and The Beast) - didn't make it any less tricky. Still we negotiated the waves and managed to get us and our little vessel out with only taking on a modicum of water. The first spot we tried was productive but only if you wanted to catch juvenile snapper so we moved a bit further out. Dave-the Fish-Whisperer caught a lucky 400mm snapper here but then it went quiet, so we moved again. This time Dave got another 4 snappers and luckily, to save a down trou, I got 1 snapper. All the fish we took were around 400 mm and we threw back quite a lot of legal snappers but you can only eat so much fish. When we decided to go the motorhome way, our dream was to get a little inflatable that was easy enough for just the two of us to manage, use it to drift fish in whatever bay we were in and catch dinner. If today wasn't living the dream, I don't know what is!
Once again, the thought of landing at Matauri Bay had us both a bit fidgity but Skipper Dave skillfully brought his little craft in to the beach with no loss of life, belongings or dignity. To watch a little montage of our trip click here:
So with dinner sorted we spent the rest of New Years Eve just chilling, doing a few "around the campsite" type chores and some quality time down at the beach swimming and SUP-ping. Oh, and a little bit of time knitting, well we do have a Grand Daughter to prepare for. Craig and his two lovely wee daughters also came for a visit.
After a delicious fish dinner we wandered down to the beach to watch some of the early New Year's fireworks. We had been invited to a couple of different camp sites but we chose to see 2019 in quietly in The Beast. Can't say we stopped to make any New Years resolutions but we are both really excited that this will be the year we become Grandparents, get to meet Bec and finally see James again.
DAY 6 - Tuesday 1 January 2019
We were rapt to find out on Christmas day that Dave's brother, Pete and his fiancee, Sarah and her daughter Gabby were going to be at Tauranga Bay at the same time we were here at Matuari Bay. We were even more delighted to make plans for them to come to visit for the day on New Years Day. Pete and Sarah are getting married this March and although Sarah and Gabby have been part of our family for several years now we are ecstatic that we will be officially welcoming them with open arms to join the gene pool.
They arrived about 11:00 am and after a catch up and lunch we took them on a tour of the campground which, of course, meant a trip up the hill to see the Rainbow Warrior monument. The Greenpeace vessel, The Rainbow Warrior was sunk at Auckland Wharf on 10 July 1985 by French military people because Greenpeace were protesting about the French Nuclear tests in the Pacific. The boat was brought to Matauri Bay and was sunk just off the coast so that people could dive on her and a memorial was built on top of the hill on 15 July 2000. You can not come to Matauri Bay without making the steep climb up the hill to look out to where the wreck is sunk and take in the everlasting memorial.
Although it was an overcast day it was still quite warm so eventually we made it down to the beach so our visitors could try out the SUP board. The conditions weren't perfect but after Dave and I showed them how it was done as we are sooooo experienced Pete gave it a go and eventually talked Gabby in to a spot of SUP-ping. Considering it was her first time and that there was quite a wave on the beach Gabby stayed on it for ages and REALLY showed us all how it should be done.
We headed back to the Beast and sorted showers and pre dinner drinks while we waited for Dave to work his magic with a butterfly lamb roast in the Baby Weber Q and, of course, some of our fish from yesterday. All too soon it was time for the Glen Eden Kindleys to hit the road and head back to Tauranga Bay. Although it was a bit overcast it was still neat to have spent a super day laughing, chatting, eating, drinking and sharing Matauri Bay with our family.
DAY 7 - Wednesday 2 January 2019
Woke again to the most amazing weather and decided to go and explore one of the islands close to the bay and have a snorkel. Busting out the wetsuits that we hadn't busted out for quite some time we were relieved to find that they hadn't shrunk too much since the last time they were used. The wind had changed slightly which meant we couldn't quite head in the direction we had wanted to so we just headed out to the island straight across from Matauri Bay. As we came in to the bay the wind dropped and we were able to drive the boat right up on to the beach. There was already a large family picnic happening on the island and we could see that there were a few people in snorkelling. As we got closer to the water we could see that the catch of the day was kina and there was a group of women processing the haul. I chatted to them about what they were doing, which bit you actually ate and what made one kina stand out from the rest. As we both got hotter and hotter standing there in our wetsuits we decided it was time to dive. It was a relief to finally hit the water and although we both had trouble with our masks it was great to see there was still plenty of llfe out there - mainly blue maomao, leatherjackets and parore but also HEAPS of kina. When we got back to the beach I discovered that Dave had grabbed us a kina and while they have never been that appealing to me I thought it was probably time to give it a go. The initial taste was pleasant but there was quite an iodiney flavour left in my mouth. The one we tried was quite orange and apparently the creamier looking ones are sweeter. My verdict was not unpleasant - but not the yummiest thing that comes from the sea, especially when compared to the rock oysters that we tried.
We headed back to Matauri Bay conscious of the fact that the waves on the beach might make for an interesting landing. Once again the skipper negotiated the waves, the swimmers and the other boats skillfully and maintained our dignity. We decided to have a restful afternoon that involved a few Gingergirl cocktails and some reading for Dave and some knitting for me - infact I finished the first little cardigan for our much anticipated Granddaughter.
Feeling suitably productive we went for a quick dip before polishing off the lamb and snapper from the night before and ended this beautiful day in paradise with an evening walk along the beach.
DAY 8 - Thursday 3 January 2019
This was to be our last full day at Matauri Bay so we wanted to make it count. We rose nice and early and headed out for another fish. The waves were fairly full on and we knew we would need to time out launching rather carefully and although we did this there was still one rogue wave that just about had us airborne on the way out. It was pure magic to be heading out for a fish and to see the sun coming up.
We headed out to the same spot and caught 6 good sized snapper and I got a rather decent sized trevally. With more than enough fish for us we headed back in, looking forward to the thrill of negotiating the waves. While Dave filleted the fish, I set about cleaning the dive gear from yesterday and giving The Little Beauty a decent wash in fresh water. While I was doing this I saw a lovely smiling young lady coming toward me and realised it was James' friend, Ali. We hadn't seen her for ages so it was so good to hear about her life in the Hokianga with her partner and to meet her two little boys. I had been keeping an eye out for her as her and her Mum used to come here all the time, so it was fantastic to have an opportunity to catch up.
Once we had taken the boat etc back to the motorhome we thought it was time to go and see if the penguin chicks were still in their safe little nests amongst the rocks on the cliff. It is a bit of a climb up but well worth the trip and definitely worth a stop on the way up to admire the view.
We were somewhat surprised that we could still find the spot - after all it must be about 15 years sinces we had been to Matauri Bay and even more surprised to find that the nests still had chicks in them! The nests are quite high up the cliff and we still couldn't work out how the little penguins manage to climb all the way up there with their little legs - it was tricky for us!!
After this strenuous climb we headed to the beach for the last swim for the visit and the water felt slightly less chilly than when we had arrived - only slightly mind you. Feeling suitably refreshed we decided it was time to walk right to the other end of the beach to the rocks at the far end. It really is a beautiful beach to walk along, that beautiful stretch of white, fine sand. When we got back to The Beast we started to break camp, deflating the Takacat and the SUP board and what better treat to aid all this busy-ness but a refreshing G&T made with flash tonic that already had Angustura Bitters in it. We said a little thank you to the Tech team at GEIS while enjoying one or two of these little summer delights. With The Beast ready for moving out the next day and our tummys full of fresh snapper it was time to reflect on the camp ground. Matauri Bay will always hold a special place in our hearts as we had so many fabulous family camping memories there. The camp ground had changed little in the fifteen years since we had last been there, the facilities were the same, still well maintained and always spotlessly clean but mostly unchanged. It seemed more crowded, more cars per camp site, more boats, more people. From a motorhome point of view the drinking water was tricky to get to and the dump station impossible but every single staff member we met was brilliant. They went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. We will definitely return to Matauri Bay and this time we won't leave it 15 years - only we might make sure it isn't peak season when we come back.
