Waihi Beach

We stayed at Waihi Beach RSA for two nights. The RSA is perched up on a hill and there was plenty of space for motorhomes of all shapes and sizes. Although not a beach view from our window, there is a view of the sea from inside the RSA.

We parked near the back fence on a large gravel area and had these interested neighbours.

Once we'd parked and unhitched, we went off to have a look around.

The beach appears to be suffering from erosion of the dunes and they've implemented a number of strategies in an attempt to combat this.

Sandbags . . .

Rocks . . .

Monitoring (you can see the dunes have receded from where this post was placed at the edge of them just eight years ago) . . .

Roped off areas . . .

. . . and lots of messages requesting people to stay off the dunes.

There are plenty of places you can gain access to the beach without walking over the dunes.

Waihi Beach sand dunes reminded me of my childhood holidays at Mt Maunganui, with dunes covered in tumbleweeds and pussy willows—lots of wonderful memories kicked in.

The beach had homes and baches (cribs, if you're a South Islander) close to the beach. Imagine the views they would have!

Mayor Island sits offshore.

We went for drive to Bowentown. In particular, we were looking for spots where we could park up if we were to return. There are a number of designated parking spots in small parking areas along the beach side of the road all the way to Bowentown, but nothing we could have fitted into. Fine for campervans, but not so for fifth wheelers or caravans. Unless we took up three or four spots—which could make us rather unpopular, so not an option.

When we reached the end of the peninsula, we found a prime spot. Grass, not painted lines! Space where we could actually fit, but it was pretty full up. This was Anzac Bay. The 'designated area' was on the grass, the far side of the tree. I imagine it would be very popular in the summer—it would be disappointing to drive all this way to find there was no room, but I guess "them's the breaks".

We'd driven up to a higher car park where there were some great views. Matakana Island . . .

. . . and some guys on jet skis having a great time.

We started to head back to the rig and pulled off to have a look around the Bowentown Boat Club.

That night, the golden sunset was brilliant. These were taken from near the back of our rig, looking away from the sea.