Tokerau Beach

 

Yes, we're finally back on the road! We left Fairway Bay Marina in December and spent Christmas with family in Taranaki. Then after a brief spell at Bell Block, near New Plymouth, and a quick trip down to Wanganui, we headed north. 

We had a great stay with friends at Ruakaka, and then moved on to spend some time in Kerikeri with family. Next stop was Tokerau Beach ... a beautiful spot up on the Karikari Peninsula. We stayed in an NZMCA Park which was about a five-minute walk from the beach.

Looking south down the beach. Over the bay, way in the distance, is Coopers Beach.

 Tokerau Beach is a really long beach looking out into Doubtless Bay — this photo is taken with the tide out. The beach seems very flat, and when the tide's in, the water is right up close to the dunes. There's not a lot of soft sand like you'd find at the top of many beaches.

We were at Tokerau Beach for five days, and the whole time it was really windy. These terns were part of a large mob all huddled on the beach, facing into the wind. 

The beach is also a road — obviously only when the tide's out — and the occasional vehicle whizzes by ... and 4WD bikes as well.

When we walked to the beach, we were near the north end. Those white spots near the water on the right are terns.

When the tide's in, this rocky section is inaccessible.

The rock strata here is really interesting. 

Here's where we stayed. I'm taking the photo from the corner of the park just after we'd come back through the gate from the beach. Most of the people were parked up to our right (out of the photo). As you can see, we had no close neighbours — there's plenty of room!

We would have liked to have stayed longer, but with it being so dry up in the Far North, there were major water restrictions. The normal place a camper could fill up with water was not available, so we had to leave and travel back down the island until we could find water.

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Tongaporutu - The Three Sisters

Tongaporutu is a small place 15km south of Mokau, about 68km north of New Plymouth. It's situated at the mouth of the Tongaporutu River, just off State Highway 3. As you travel along the highway, this is the view if you look to the east towards the sea as you cross the bridge.

There's a great free camping spot where you can stay for three days if you're fully self-contained. We're near the end; there's more parking space on the left side of the photo, closer to the river.

 At low tide, you can walk along the black sand towards the river mouth, then along the beach towards "The Three Sisters". It's an easy walk but can be slippery in places, especially alongside the river. I wore sneakers, but when you get to the beach, there are a lot of places where water flows from the land down to the sea and to get past those, you might need to get your feet wet.

The cliffs along here consist of grey papa and sandstone. The action of the ocean is consistently shaping and eating away at the coastline. I read that it's believed to be eroding at the rate of two metres annually.

One of the first rock formations we came to had an interesting carving of a face on it. 

Looking back at this huge rock, you can see how the sea and weather have created caves and tunnels.

Looking past the rock, the landform you can see in the background is actually on the other side of the river mouth. The effect of the sea is obvious here as well with caves clearly visible.

Eventually, we arrived at The Three Sisters, or what is now "The Two Sisters" since the sea claimed one of them. In the distance to the left is what's left of Elephant Rock — you can make out the two legs and back of the elephant, but it lost it's trunk to erosion in 2016.

We've travelled past Tongaporutu for years, and this is the first time we've stopped to have a look. It's so easy to be 'too busy' and miss out on experiencing this beautiful area. Twenty years ago there were apparently four sisters! So if you want to see these, take the time to stop before the sea claims them all. Having said that, in the photo above, you can see another pillar to the left, so who knows what the sea will carve out of the landscape over the next twenty years.

This, I believe, is one of the original Three Sisters with the top shaped to look like a face. She currently provides a home for nesting white-fronted terns. (I think that's what they are!) They're the white dots halfway up.

A closer view ... Mumma tern and her chick are safe from humans with their nest way up here.

Here's a closer look at the coastline on the other side of the river mouth. During high tide, most of these caves would be underwater.

On our way back, we stopped to chat with Gavin, our motorhome neighbour. You never know who you're going to come across while travelling ... we knew Gavin and Vicki when we lived in Stratford about 20 years ago. Although no fish were caught today, I understand kahawai have been in the past.

Walking back along the side of the river. This walk is not possible at high tide, so you need to time your visit to make sure you can access the beach and have long enough to see what you want to without getting caught by the incoming tide. It's only about a 15-minute walk to the rock formations, and the coastline all along the way is well worth seeing.

On the day we left, I took this photo as we drove over the bridge. You can see where the campers park on the right side of the photo.

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Orewa Beach

We've found a lovely c3 church in Orewa and one Sunday, after the service, we stopped at the Orewa Beach on our way home. It was a miserable day—overcast and grey—but still a beautiful beach.

In spite of the weather, there were surfers out not too far off shore. 

There didn't seem to be many waves ....

 A new surfer getting some tips.

And others just out for a walk, rugged up against the cold and wind. 

Back "home" at Fairway Bay Marina, the palm trees up on the hill give a clear picture of the weather we were experiencing that day.

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Okoromai and Army Bay Beaches

Last weekend was stunning weather. We spent the Saturday with friends who'd travelled up from Hahei to visit their son who lives near Manly and Stanmore Bay. On Sunday we went for a drive; the Whangaparaoa Peninsula is quite hilly and some of the streets are quite steep. We first went UP the hill from where we're staying to see what we could see . . . a beautiful view across the water towards Auckland city.

Then we drove back down and headed east—out towards the end of the peninsula and Shakespear Regional Park, hoping to be able to take Lucy for a walk; but unfortunately, dogs are not allowed in the reserve. So we kept driving and before long came across Okoromai Beach, on the Auckland side of the peninsula. Lots of people were gathering cockles in the low tide; I was surprised at the footwear of some of the people who'd ventured out into the water to find some.

Back up on the grass was a convenient tap to hose the sand off the cockles . . . and those shoes! There are several signs around—in a few different languages—reminding people that there's a limit of 50 cockles per gatherer per day.

Although it was getting later in the day, there were still a lot of people around taking advantage of the sunshine—Okoromai Bay Beach is obviously a popular picnic spot.

After we left that beach, we headed north to the other coast and Army Bay. Just to the right of this photo is a boat ramp, and the car park we were in had plenty of longer parking spaces to allow for cars with boat trailers. No doubt it's much busier than this in the summer. 

Looking west along the beach.

There were some intriguing trees like this one that appear to be lounging on the sand with their roots stretched back towards the bank, anchoring them to some life-preserving sustenance. As on many beaches in New Zealand, the sea appears to be slowly encroaching on the land.

Dogs were welcome on both beaches at this time of year—Lucy enjoyed a run along the sand off leash on the Army Bay Beach where there were fewer people. This photo was taken back at Okoromai Bay Beach.

Heading home again, we stopped at this small lake—I don't know that it has a name. We've seen model boats on it in the past. Dave pointed out the golf course he'd played on just last week—you can see some bunkers on the far side of the lake.

Here's a map of the area. The golf course Dave was on was the Gulf Harbour Country Club; it's quite a large course—on both sides of Gulf Harbour Drive. The Whangaparaoa Golf Club is also showing on the map—yet to be played, but I understand there is a plan . . . .

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Kakanui

Just south of Oamaru, where the Kakanui River empties into the sea, there's a small township called Kakanui. On the southern side of the river is Kakanui South, which is where most of the houses are.

The top photo is taken from Kakanui South, looking at where the river meets the sea. Below is the coastline on the northern side.

Looking further north up the beach. It was quite a nice day—so good to have the sun out again. 

 Southern black-backed gull

Kakanui South

There were some great waves, but with rocks visible close to the shore in many places, only a few places where surfers could make the most of them. We did see a couple of surfers, but no photos.

On the southern side, looking back toward the river mouth.

We were staying at the back of Purton's Cafe & Bar at Maheno, about 10 minutes away.

They have heaps of space in their car park. Such friendly people, and a bonus to find a washing machine and dryer on site, so I didn't need to find a laundromat!

Just over the fence behind us were two great hairy cattle. Google tells me they are Tufty cattle (Polled Highlands). This one had a dusting of what looked like tiny flowers all over its head.

Check out those eyelashes! I'm not sure how clear their forward vision must be.

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