Week 12 Omaha River Retreat.

I went down to Auckland on Friday afternoon to pick up Jonny and we called in at New World, on the way back, to do some shopping. Rob called in on his way from work and put Jonny to bed. I had said to Jonny that I thought he was tired, he looked very pale, but of course he denied this. However when I went down half and hour later he was hard and fast asleep.

On Saturday afternoon the weather looked favourable so we all went for a walk on the beach at Goat Island a marine sanctuary not far from here. The beach actually overlooks Goat Island and is on the mainland. It's a very popular spot in the summer as the snorkelling and diving is so good there. We did take brollies with us but apart from one short shower we had sunshine. It's an interesting beach to walk on as there are lots of rocks, shells and driftwood.  Rob came after work and stayed overnight , I cooked toad in the hole for tea which everyone enjoyed. Rob took Jonny back home on Sunday morning after I had cooked pancakes for him.
On Sunday afternoon Nigel and I went over to Omaha for a walk on the beach.It's a beautiful, long, sandy beach but not as interesting as the beach at Goat Island. There were quite a few people out for a Sunday walk on the beach enjoying the sunshine.

On Monday afternoon Nigel and I walked down to the wharf and sat in the sunshine admiring the river. The weather is much improved and it was warm and sunny. We watched a couple of kingfishers which were perched on the jetty and listened to the Tui's in the trees behind us. A cormorant popped up in the river and we watched him dive again and come up in another place further up river. As we walked back a fantail followed us, they are such curious little birds, skittering and playing so close to us.

Tuesday was another fishing day as Rob had the day off and the weather was good. We took plenty of supplies with us, food and drink, as we hoped to be out for a long time. We set off, from Scott's landing, at 9.30 am. The sea was a bit choppy but certainly better than our last trip out. It was due to calm down by lunchtime so we went further out this time and after 50 minutes Rob anchored off Kawau Island within sight of Martins Bay. We spent about 3 hours there and there were plenty of fish about. We seemd to have got amongst to a shoal of Kahawai and caught many of them. They are fun to catch as they put up quite a fight and jump out of the water but they are not generally reckoned to be a good eating fish unless they are smoked. I baked one that we caught on an earlier trip and we really enjoyed it so we kept 3 of them for the freezer. The rest of them we returned to the sea, We were catching snapper as well but many of them were undersize and they too were returned to the sea. A pied cormorant popped up at the side of the boat and decided that he would hang around for a while and see if he could catch any fish that we threw back. Eventually his patience paid off and he took a small snapper almost out of Rob's hand. He made a very loud squawk as he took the fish and then dived off with it and surfaced again away from the boat to eat his lunch.

                                                            Rob and Kahawai

                                                         Shipwreck

                                                                   Pied Cormorant

                                                                 Calm waters

                                                         Catch of the Day.

                                                          Nigel, snapper and kahawai

                                                             Our captain!

After lunch Rob decided to move on and we set off in the direction of "home" motoring first to a small island nearby to have a look at a very old shipwreck that was rotting in the shallow water. We anchored up at a couple of places but didn't have any luck but at the third place we struck lucky and spent an hour or more pulling in lots of good sized snapper. By this time we had become much choosier and didn't need many more so even some good sized fish were reprieved this time. There is a limit on how many fish one can take and what size they can be and the authorities are very keen on this. We eventually kept 19 fish which was well below our limit. One lucky fish that I caught was a red gurnard, he was only small and so beautiful as I pulled him up through the clear water. The nearest description that I can give of him is that he looked like a brightly coloured goldfish with greeny blue wings. For the last 3 hours or so of our day the sea had been very calm and the sky so blue, the sun was pretty hot for the time of year and we had taken off our fleeces. Looking over to the land and the hills beyond we could see why New Zealand is called the land of the long white cloud. Rob took advantage of the calm water and openened the throttle and we were soon back at Scott's Landing.

 Back at Rob's there was still plenty to do. The boat had to be emptied, the engine cleaned and the fish dealt with. Rob filletted a big snapper that Nigel had caught which was going to be in the frying pan before too long! We said goodbye and drove back home with our fishy haul. Once home I gutted our fish and put them in the freezer and then it was time to have our meal, freshly caught snapper coated in flour and quickly fried and oven chips. A meal fit for a king (or queen!)

Before the local vineyards around Matakan were planted in the 1970's there had been many orchards in the area.. Some still remain and now we have the autumn fruit. The first of the season were the feijoas which were introduced into NZ in the 1920's. A strange fruit but they are very popular here and have a distinctive flavour.http://www.coast2coastnz.com/?p=761
Now we have mandarin oranges, apples, limes, avocados and persimmon. Our local garage has bags of these fruit for sale at the price of 5nzd (about £2.50) for 2 1/2 kilos - good value indeed. We haven't yet tried the persimmon, not sure if we could get through so many, but will try and get a smaller amount to see if we like them.

Week 11 Omaha River Retreat.

Well, a very quiet week with little to report.
On Friday I drove down to Auckland to pick up Jonny who was here until Monday morning. Rob stayed here for the 3 nights that Jonny was here and took him back to Auckland,early on Monday morning. On Saturday morning Jonny and I went into Warkworth with Jess, Jill's daughter, so that she could do some shopping.
Sunday morning Nigel, Jonny and I went to play mini golf at Point Wells. Jonny enjoys playing and is certainly improving. I am not sure if it will be open for much longer, though, as the autumn leaves are littering the course.

On Monday we had a lot of rain and wind and the weather continued like that for most of the week. The rain diminished as the week went on but the showers were very heavy. Thankfully in betweeen the showers the sun shone so it wasn't all doom and gloom! On Thursday we went in to Matakana, to the cinema, to see"Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" which we both thoroughly enjoyed.
So as I said not a lot to report this week.
I will leave you with the thought that there are 30 million possum in New Zealand which is perhaps something that you have never thought about! They were introduced here in 1837, from Australia, for the fur trade. They are now considered a pest as they have no natural enimies here. As they are nocturnal we don't see them very often apart from squashed ones at the side of the road. We do though sometimes here them on the roof at night.

Week 10 Trip up North

.We left here on Friday morning to take a trip up North, a part of New Zealand that we had not previously visited. From Warkworth we took State Highway 1 up to Whangerai. We bought some fish and chips and went to the park at the Whangerai Falls to eat them before looking at the Falls. We then left SH1 and took the road through Ngunguru and on to the coast at Tutukaka. We had inteded spending the night there but, beautiful as it was, there wasn't a lot to do at this time of year so we carried on towards Pahia on the Bay of Islands.

We stopped in the small town of Kawakawa which is famous for it's toilets!! At this point I have to say how impressed I am with the provision of public toilets in this country, it seems that almost every town, small or large, has well sign posted and well appointed public conveniences. Matakana has some very smart ones but Kawakawa's toilets take some beating! They were designed by an Austrian, Friedensreich Hundertwasser and have become a major tourist attraction. They are certainly unlike any other toilets I have ever visited and believe me that is quite a few over the years!
http://www.bay-of-islands-nz.com/hundertwasser.shtml

Naturally we had to pay our respects and take advantage of these conveniences before having a look around the town.and carrying along to Pahia.

Arriving in Pahia we parked the car and sussed out the many motels. We wanted a motel pretty close to the centre of the town and  restaurants and settled on the Bay View which was a 5 minute walk from the town centre. We booked in and settled in our apartment of large dining/sitting/kitchen area plus large double bedroom and adjoining bathroom. I went for a walk around town to get my bearings. The town centre is compact and surrounds the quayside providing many restaurants, gift shops and agencies for booking trips in the Bay. On my return we took advantage of the spa pool which soothed our weary bones before going out to dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant.

On Saturday we caught the ferry, just a 10 minute trip, over to Russell. I had read a book about the history of the town and was very keen to visit it. It is now a calm, beautiful little town at the waters edge quite different from what it was in the 1800's. Russell was originally called Kororareka, which means sweet penguin as they were sweet to eat! It was renamed Russell in honour of Lord John Russell and was the first capital of New Zealnd from 1840-1841. It had been known as the Hell Hole of the Pacific as it was used as a shore station for the many whaling ships in the Pacific. In those days the now quiet waterfront had housed many ale houses and brothels and gained a reputation as a lawless and bawdy port. There was a lot of troubles in  the 1840's between the Maoris and the settlers and in 1845 the town was sacked and the settlers left. Only 2 buildings survived, the Anglican church, which is the oldest in NZ and the catholic mission. Once the war in the North was over the ton was gradually rebuilt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell,_New_Zealand

Once in Russell we walked along the waterfront and found a cafe where we sat outside by the shore and had a late breakfast. We were lucky with the weather, it was a calm, sunny day with not too much wind. After our meal we continued along the water front and visited the museum. We both love looking around these small town museums and learning about the history of the places we visit.
http://www.russellmuseum.org.nz/


Our next stop was at the Anglican church, a tiny wooden building, which is the oldest surviving chuch in NZ. The graveyard was fascinating and in a way told the history of the town by it's gravestones. A grave and headstone erected in memory of 6 young British men who died whilst defending the town in 1845 was a poignant reminder of those harsh times.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/hms-hazard-memorial

I sat for a while in the deserted church and thought of all the memories that it must contain. It's so unlike churches that we are used to, so light and bright. The windows only have a small surrounding of stained glass and the flowering shrubs that surround the church can be seen through the windows. It felt very peaceful just sitting there ane I felt quite loth to return outside.

We spent some time sitting by the waterfront, watching the world go by, reading the paper and enjoying the peace and quiet before strolling back to the ferry for our short trip back to Pahia.
Although we had only intended staying for 2 nights we decided to stay an extra night as we were so enjoying our time there. Another spa bath and another good meal and we were soon ready for bed.

On Sunday I took a dolphin watching cruise in the morning, Nigel wasn't too keen on going so after we had walked to the wharf we said goodbye and I boarded the bright yellow Explore NZcatamaran.
http://www.explorenz.co.nz/Dolphin-Discoveries/index.html
We left at 9am and went over to Russell to pick up more passengers before setting out for our cruise around the B~ay of Islands. The weather wasn't as good as the previous day, cloudy and blustery but no rain. The catamaran has lots of seating inside but I along with another 10 or so passengers sat on the upper deck outside. There was a photographer on board and I chatted with her and learned that she was from Derby - a long way from home! She had been in Pahia for 6 years and was loving her life here. Within half an hour our captain had sighted a pod of dolphins and we slowed down to take a closer look. Unfortunately the boat was pitching and rolling in the  choppy seas so I was unable to take any photographs. A magical 5 minutes or so though watching these beautiful creatures leaping and playing in the water so close to our boat. Although I'm a good sailor I was quite relieved when the waters settled down a bit and it became possible to enjoy the scenery without clinging on like grim death!
We settled down again after our dolphin encounter and carried on first to Roberton/Motuarohia Island where CaptainCook visited,  anchoring off Cook's Cove in 1769.

                                                                      Cooks Bay

                                                                     Cooks Bay


Then we went on to the Brett Paninsula and its isolated lighthouse before stopping to look at the famous hole in the rock At times it is possible to cruise through it but today the sea wan't behaving itself and we had to content our selves with just admiring it's splendour, Then on to look into the other famous sight of the Cathedral Cave.

                                                            Hole in the Rock

                                                            Cathedral Cave

We now turned back towards home travelling by a different route and stopping off at the island of Otehi for a welcome coffee and stroll around this beautiful island before getting back to Pahia at 1pm. Nigel was waiting for me and by this time I was pretty hungry so we repaired to the famous waterside restaurant and aquarium for lunch.
http://www.35south.co.nz/

In the afternoon we went for a short drive to Waitangi, best known for being the location where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on February 6, 1840; however, it is also the place where the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand was signed five years prior, on October 28, 1835. This document was ratified by the British Crown the following year (1836). The whole area is beautifully kept and adjoins a beautiful golf course. I had hoped to visit the grounds and treaty house but an admission fee of 25nzd put us off doing so! We parked by the golf course and took a walk along a footpath leading to Hururu Falls. A beautiful bush walk but after half an hour or so we decided to turn back as there was no sight or sound of the falls. On arriving back at the  car park we noticed that the walk to the falls is 5kms so perhaps as well that we had decided not to carry on.

                                                                Tree Ferns, Waitangi.

We then drove on to Hururu Falls, on the Waitangi River,  before going back to our motel for a spa bath and then our evening meal. We went to an Italian restaurant and had a chat with our waitress who was from Halifax in Yorkshire!

                                                            Haruru Falls.

We said farewell to Pahia the next morning and set off to drive to the top of North Island. We stopped for a while in the pretty town of Keri Keri for a look around and then carried on towards our next destination of Doubtless Bay. The weather was not too good, grey and showery but not cold.

As we drove through the small township of Kaeo we noticed a  museum. We both love looking as these small, local museums so we stopped and went in. A beautifully kept museum which had been purpose built, quite an achievement for a town of less than 500 residents.Two local, volunteer ladies were there and they were very chatty and informative and even allowed us to take some photoes. We spent a very interesting hour or more there learning of the history of the area and it's residents.
One item on display was the now redundant telephone exhange accompanied by the following notice.

Extract from the 10th June 1882
" Whangaroa. The telephone between here and Kaeo was opened for the transmission of messages on the 25th May 1882 and on that evening on the kindess of Mr White, the telegraphist, a number of ladies and gentlemen at Kaeo and Whangaroa ommunicated with each other. Songs were sung, jokes exhanged and messages passed to and fro with great rapidity, each lady and gentleman being delighted with the novelty of conversing with friends six miles apart."
A far cry from now when we can speak and even see people on the other side of the world via the internet and skype!

                                                     Old telephone exchange.

Leaving the museum we left the main road and drove through Whangaroa to Taurango Bay passing many oyster beds in the bay. We had a snack at the pub in Taurango Bay which was virtually deserted at this time of year although, in the holiday season, it is a very popular place. We drove back to the main road and on to our destination for the evening at Mangonui on Doubtless Bay. The bay was named by Captain Cook who, when he sailed by, is purported to have said "Doubtless there is a bay in there." There are several popular holiday resorts lining the bay but we had been told that Mangonui was the best one. The weather was not very good, rather chilly and windy but at least it was dry. We soon realised that there was not much in the way of accommodation open at this time of year but found the Waterfront Motel which, as it's name implies, is on the waterfront. The motel has been there since the early 1900's and from the outside most of it's historical features have been retained although, thankfully, the interiors of the spacious accomodation have been modernised. We had a stroll along the waterfront which seems to look as it did decades ago but has been well cared for and a sense of history pervades the village. Despite the weather I was pleased to see the place without the influx of summer visitors when it must lose some of it's charm.

                                                       Stormy morning Mangonui

                                                        War memorial Mangonui

                                                    Entry to Waterfront Motel


Mangonui is home to the "World Famous Fish and Chip shop" and I felt that we had to go and see if it's claim to fame was true. Certainly it's situation built out over the harbour would take some beating as would the freshness of the fish coming from the fishing boats moored up next to the shop. Having been born and bred in Yorkshire and being close to the world famous Harry Ramsden fish shop (now sold out and not very good) as well as many local fish and chip shops I was sceptical about their claim to fame. I asked the lady who took our order if she had ever heard of Harry Ramsden's but of course she hadn't ! I did learn though that they cook their fish and chips in beef dripping which is what most Yorkshire fish shops used before we all became so health conscious. The fish of the day was Blue Moki (neither of us had heard of it!) so we ordered 2 lots of fish and chips and went and sat at a trestle table. Our meal was cooked to order and was served wrapped in paper as it would be in a take away shop. So what was our verdict? Well the fish was beautiful but sadly not enough of it! The chips were crisp and almost perfect. I think that if they were in competition with some UK fish shops such as the one in Whitby they would be beaten hands down!

We were now almost at Cape Reinga, the northern extremity of New Zealand which sticks out on the top left of the map. It's 116km each way to the lighthouse from Kaitaia and we had been debating whether or not to make the trip - it seemed a shame to be so near and not to make the trip. The weather made up our minds for us on the Tuesday morning as it was blowing a gale and pouring down. Heavy rain which continued unabated all day. We set off to make the drive down the west coast and home. It wasn't a pleasant drive and I think that my navigator (!) made a couple of errors which made it a longer journey than was necessary! This part of NZ is semi-tropical and the vegetation is very lush. The roads are lined with canna lilies and Agapanthus although they are not in flower now.

Our route took us throught the Waipoua Forest, a twisty, hilly route of 20 kms or so. There was very little traffic and it felt as if we were driving through a tunnel of greenery with the rain making the branches of the trees and tree ferns hang heavily over the road.  The forest ofs Waipoua, and the adjoining forests of Mataraua and Waima, make up the largest remaining tract of native forest in Northland. Most of Northland's ancient forest cover has been lost to saw and fire, plundered for the precious timber of the kauri tree or cleared for farmland. However the forests are now under the protection of the Department of Conservation. I had wanted to walk in the forest and see some of the majestic kauri trees but with the rain teeming down this was impossible. I did get out of the car and run to the nearest big speciman, although I got wet through I'm so glad that I was able to see the largest living kauri in New Zealand, Tane Mahuta has a 13.77-metre girth, a trunk height of 17.68 metres and a total height of 51.5 metres.
http://www.waipouaforest.hokianga.co.nz/
No photo can portray the  hugeness of this tree, it's only when standing in front of it and looking up, up and up that one registers the enormity of it's size.

I hope that at some point during our stay we shall be able to return and spend more time in this amazing forest.
Finally we got back home after a long day on the road and the prospect of relaxing for a few days before picking up Jonny for the weekend.

Week 9 Omaha River Retreat.

We had a quiet weekend at home ending with a good roast dinner at Rob and Julie's on Sunday evening. Monday and Tuesday were spent at home as well. The weather was still warm and mostly sunny and I walked down to the wharf, most days, to sit and look at the water and to read.
The bird life here is pretty amazing, lots of birds that are strange to those of us who live in the northern hemisphere. The Tui is perhaps one of the most famous NZ birds with it's beautiful, lyrical song which never fails to amaze me.
The shrub covered bank in front of our kitchen window is home to fantails, starlings, blackbirds and of course the ever present, cheeky sparrows. Some of these birds roost on the roof above our bedroom and make quite a noise when they wake in the early morning, a noise though that I have come to like as I hear them shuffling around and quarrelling among themselves.
When we first arrived Jill was very proud to point out to us a couple of New Zealand Harriers and their two young who could often be seen circling around the paddocks. They have moved on now but it was a prvilige to be able to watch them.
 Often when I walk down to the wharf I see one or more cormorants sitting on the jetty, wings outspread drying in the sun.
We also see brightly coloured Rosella's, immigrants from Australia who  have taken up residence here.after being introduced onto Kawau Island, just 8kms off shore, by Governor Grey back in the 1860's.
Another immigrant and not a popular one is the Indian Mynah bird which has taken up residence in the northern half of North Island, they are often seen on the roadside searching for insects.
Being close to the estuary we  see the white faced heron and they often come and perch on the rail of our upstairs deck before taking off again, so gracefully to fly over to one of the many trees in the paddock.

 Perhaps my favourite bird is the Pukeko or New Zealand Swamp Hen which to me looks like an overgrown moor hen. It has dark blue plumage, a red beak and a white rump. They are often seen at the roadside foraging for food. We often see them, from our windows, foraging in the paddock behind the house. It is one of the few New Zealand native birds to have flourished since the arrival of man, and can be found in almost any grassland area, especially in swampy locations.
Unlike the Pukeko the iconic Kiwi has not fared well since  the country became inhabited and it's population decimated by rats and domestic dogs . It still lives in parts of Northland and in many other places reserves have been made to encourage it to breed.
I often hear New Zealands only owl the morepork if I go outside after dark. The reason for it's name becomes obvious when one hears it's call, definitely a morepork as opposed to a too whit too whoo!

Rob had the day off on Wednesday and as the weather was forecast to be good we went out fishing with him. Sadly the weather forecast was wrong and the wind did not abate in the afternoon but we did manage to find a relatively sheltered place in the bay and spent about 4 hours out there. It was quite choppy and there were not too many fish about but we did manage to catch enough snapper (and one gurnard) so had enough fish for our evening meal. We usually throw back more snapper than we catch as it is illegal to catch them under a certain size. One lucky cormorant spotted our boat and circled around us waiting for us to throw back one of the smaller snapper. A lucky bird but an unlucky end for 2 of the small snapper!
On Thursday Nigel and I went over to Rachels and whilst Nigel sat on the sunny deck Rachel and I went out riding for an hour and a half.