SATURDAY 13 APRIL 2019 - MIRANDA HOLIDAY PARK
With our first grandchild due to arrive in the second week of the April school holidays we decided to risk heading out of Auckland and making for the inside of the Coromandel Peninsula. We left Auckland about 1:00 pm ish but decided to call in and say hi to the Mum to be. We had all just heard that the little girl that we thought Laura was going to be having was actually a wee boy so we wanted to see the changes to the nursery and the flash new shower that Jono had just installed. We left Laura's at 2:30 pm and headed straight to Miranada where we had booked in to the
Miranda Holiday Park so we could have a soak in the hot springs. We really like this campground - it is close to Auckland is well laid out and has really great, clean facilities. It is also really close to a really neat cycle trail so we unpacked our bikes and tried out the first 6 kms of it which took us to Waitakaruru and then 6 kms back to the Beast. Treating ourselves to a nicely chilled cider and a pasta dinner we decided it was time to hit the pools. The campground has its own pool which is a great temperature but we like the temp of the public pool at the back of the campground so we are happy to pay again to be able to go and have a very luxurious soak. Feeling suitably weary from a busy term, the drive down, a wee cycle and the temperature of the pool water we hit the sack early.
SUNDAY 14 APRIL 2019 - WAIOMU DOMAIN
After a chilly night we started with coffee and English muffins leaving Miranda by 10:00 am. Our first stop was the Goldfields Shopping Centre in Thames and a quick trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond for a minky blanket. Although the hot water bottles were working a treat we definitely needed one more layer on the bed! Also managed to find a Little Peter Rabbit baby suit while we were at the shops and we desperately needed one of those too. We headed out of Thames, along the coast road and very quickly came to the
Waiomu Domain for a spot of Freedom camping! There are only a few spaces for self-contained vehicles in this domain and apparently the Thames Council are very strict about parking between the signs so we were pretty rapt to get the spot right by the water! You could probably get about six motohomes parked here if everyone parked thoughtfully. The public toilets were clean but were quite a hike from the freedom camping area so you really need to be an up and running self contained vehicle.
The sun was shining and the water was so, so calm that we busted out the little beauty
Takacat toot suite and headed out for a fish.
Honestly it was like it was still summer, the water was like a mirror and it was still so warm. We caught six nice pannies - oh and three baby sharks. With dinner covered we headed back to the Beast for fresh snapper, showers, a little bit of TV and off to bed.
MONDAY 15 APRIL 2019 - TAPU CAMP
Woke to beautiful sunshine - but boy was it crisp, thank goodness for the new, much-loved-already, minky blanket. We made the Beast ship shape and crossed the road to the fab little cafe for a cofee and a supply of
Dr Feelgood Ice Creams. We had tried these the night before and were pretty impressed - not cheap but so worth it. We also grabbed a gourmet pie each for later. Stopping only for one selfie - although obviously Dave wanted us to take heaps more - we then headed off, continuing along the coast road.
Not far up the road we came across
Tapu Camp. It looked a little rough but we really wanted to spend more than one night in one place so we booked in for two nights - and we were so glad we had. Do not judge a book by its cover - this camp had very clean facilities, friendly hosts and was well worth the stop. We set up our camp and went for a wander to check out the environs. Our first stop was the
Royal Oak Tavern across the road for a quick bevvy. We decided that this could be a good place for a 'Date Night Dinner' and then we went in to their bottle store to get some cider. Cue the "OMG it's an epiphony" music and listen very carefully because I will say this only once. In this tiny little place just out of Thames we discovered THE best bottled cider in the world -
Mac's Cloudy Apple Cider. I kid you not, it is amazing.
We scoffed the pies that we had bought earlier and headed off for a spot of surf casting and all I have to say about that, is, thank goodness we had decided to go out for dinner.
We have developed our own scale for camp showers where the ultimate shower has heaps of hot water, good pressure, a shelf to put your things on, even better if there is a bench, hooks for your towel etc, a curtain to separate your dry stuff from where you are showering and a shelf in the shower for your soap etc. Even better if the shower doesn't cost anything.
Well the showers at
Tapu Camp didn't have all of these things but they had THE most amazing pressure and heaps of hot water so they scored really highly with us!
Now that we had both been water blastered clean it was time for date night. We headed over to the
Royal Oak Tavern with low expectations but boy were we wrong. Small town New Zealand came up trumps again!! We were treated to absolutely brilliant burgers and chips. Tasty as and beautifully presented. We got back to the Beast in time to catch the next episode of '
Bad Seed' a New Zealand drama that we were really enjoying and then off to bed. Thank goodness for the new minky as it was another chilly night.
TUESDAY 16 APRIL 2019 - TAPU CAMP
Woke to blue skies and another chilly morning. After a caffeine hit we headed off to hunt and gather seafood. We walked for ages but only got a handful of pipis and the odd mussel.
To console ourselves we sat in the sun and consumed one or two tasty ciders and a beautiful homemade toasted sandwich. With re-newed vigour we headed off for another attempt at surf casting. Although it was beautiful in the sun we didn't have much luck. We ALMOST caught one but I guess that doesn't really count. So steak for dinner and at that stage we thought we were having surf and turf because of the shellfish we had collected but sadly the shellfish was all yuck or empty - so steak it was. Followed by choccy, ice creams, some knitting and another episode of
Bad Seed. With the news that number one grandchild was going to be a boy and not a girl, I was furiously trying to complete a blue jumper before 23 April.
After such an exhausting day it was time to hit the sack as we were heading off the next day.
WEDNESDAY 17 APRIL 2019 - LONG BAY MOTOR CAMP
Another brilliant sunny day to wake up to. We hit the road by 10:00 am heading towards Coromandel Township, stopping only for the maginficent view from the top of the lookout. Just click on the link to see the full vista.
https://fyu.se/v/xo397wm83l
The roads were a bit skinny and wind-ey but we eventually made it to Coromandel Township where we stopped for a bit of a shoofty, lunch and a bit of a stock up. So with our bellies and the larder full we headed to
Long Bay Motor Camp. We hadn't factored in to our planning that the way the Easter break fell meant that people only had to take 3 days annual leave to gain 10 days holiday and the brilliant weather meant that all the campgrounds on the Coromandel were fully booked so the campground could only offer us 2 nights which we grabbed pretty damn quickly.
We scored a fabulous beach front site that was right beside the boat ramp that lead to calm, calm water so obviously this was a sign for us to bust out the
Takacat again. We headed straight out to the mussel farms. We both lost something big and ended up with 3 keepers. It was a bit cold coming back so the super clean, hot showers were very welcome. After admiring the beautiful sunset we sat down to a feast of all the smoked treats we had bought from
The Coromandel Smoking Co in Coromandel Town. The smoked scallops were a particular favourite.
THURSDAY 18 APRIL 2019 - LONG BAY MOTOR CAMP
Woke to a beautiful blue sky so it was a no brainer to head back out for a fish. The tide was out so it was a bit of a hike to the water. Once again the seas were dead calm so we headed out for a bit of drift fishing. Although we were catching heaps they were all babies so we hightailed it back to the mussel farm. Dave saw a bronze whaler breech in one of the bays as we headed out. We got 6 keepers with Dave catching a 420 mm snapper. With dinner well and truely covered we headed back in. Dave gave the boat a super dooper clean so that it could be re-stowed in its locker while I sorted out the fish. We had met another couple in a motorhome from Kati Kati so we took them some of the fish and they gave us some freshly made chocolate slice in return - a damn fine trade!! To give the boat time to dry we got the bikes down and headed for the short, sharp, acute track over to Tucks Bay. Sort of straight up and straight down but the little beach was worth the effort. We were sad that there had been no cancellations so it meant that this was our last night at this magical little jewel in the coromandel crown but with fresh fish for dinner and the last episode of
Bad Seed to watch we didn't really have anything to complain about.
FRIDAY 19 APRIL 2019 - GOOD FRIDAY - LITTLE WAIKAWAU RESERVE
We knew the campgrounds in the area were pretty chokka so we had our fingers crossed that some of the freedom camping places on the way home might be able to squeeze us in. We left Long Bay at 9:30 am and headed straing to Little Waikawau Reserve. We must have got the timing just right as there was tons of space and we nestled in to a level little spot, between the signs, right on the beach front.
Once we had set up camp we walked along the shore to Waikawau where a very steady stream of boats were launching or heading back up the river. Once we got to the boat ramp we saw the HUGE queue of vehicles waiting to get access to the boat ramp to launch. Talk about a little earner for what ever charity was taking the money and directing the traffic. We walked back to the Beast and had a yummy steak toasted sandwich. While Dave went to gather oysters I made use of the fact that we finally had some internet to sort out the guzzillion applications that had been recieved for the Deputy Principal job we were advertising. The sunset was pretty amazing and we watched it develop as we walked along the beach. We saw an eagle ray playing near the shore so there was no way I was going swimming - oh that and the fact that it was very chilly indeed. Dave also spotted a "Torpedo" that needed rescuing as it seemed to be drifting aimlessly down the bay. Luckily he didn't attempt to rescue it as the people who owned it were camping further down the beach and they actually had the 'Torpedo" well under control. Green Basil curry for dinner followed by 'The Notebook' on TV and it was time to hit the sack.
SATURDAY 20 APRIL 2019 - MIRANDA HOLIDAY PARK
Started our day with fish for brekky and left Little Waikawau Reserve at 9:30 am. Luckily we had phoned ahead to the Miranda Holiday Park and got their last site for tonight so we were in no hurry. We stopped in Thames and checked out their Saturday morning market. We didn't buy anything but were pretty impressed with what we saw. As Dave's beloved old Nissan 4WD had died in the last week of the term we also looked at some car yards while we were there. Calling in to Pak n Save for a few treats for our last night we spotted a Freedom camping place really close to the shopping centre in Thames. While it isn't a particularly picturesque spot it may come in handy at some stage so was good to make a note of it. Arriving at
Miranda Holiday Park we got the bikes down and went for a blat around the whole camp just to check it out. Considering this place is so close to Auckland it is somewhere that we will keep coming back to - great facilties, friendly staff and hot pools to soak in. What is not to love??? We repeated the bike ride to Waitakaruru and back - repeated the soak in the hot pools and thoroughly enjoyed our BBQ-ed lamb roast for dinner. We were heading home in the morning - with only 3 days until number one grandson was planned to arrive this had been a fabulous week of sunshine, fishing and kicking back.
SUNDAY 21 APRIL 2019 - HOME AGAIN
Knowing that we had to replace Dave's vehicle during these holidays we said good-by to Miranda early so we could stop at the Ellerslie Car Fair on the way home. NOTE TO SELF - don't bother going to the car fair on Easter weekend again. There was nothing there so we just headed home to await the arrival of the baby.
TUESDAY 23 APRIL 2019 - SEVENTH HEAVEN
Started my 59th birthday with a breakfast at
The Grounds NZ. "If you can't have a glass of Proseco for breakfast on your 59th birthday, when can you?" is what I say!!
Then we just waited for the phone call that would tell us we were Grandparents. We didn't have to wait that long and as we were looking around Super Cheap Autos pimpling out Dave's new Subaru Legacy, we found out that Vincent had arrived safely with Mum, Dad and baby all doing very well indeed. Time to head up to Auckland Hospital for that first cuddle.
