Although we went to Taranaki for our gransdson's fifth birthday, we've returned to Fairway Bay Marina. We came for one night back in July and ended staying .... Apologies for infrequent blog posts since then. With not travelling and 'sightseeing' so much, there didn't seem to be so much to tell you. But now we're settling in here for I don't know how long, and we're hoping to do a few short trips here and there around this area.
Sitting up on our bed gives Lucy a great view of what's going on outside the rig. The boat you can see is Stella. She belongs to Grant, the guy who owns Yogi's Bar and Eatery nearby.
One Sunday, we decided to go for a walk around to the Gulf Harbour Marina. We're actually in the Fairway Bay Marina, which is towards the east of Gulf Harbour. You might be able to see a path to the left of the photo near Lucy's eyebrow ... that's where we'll be walking ... along that top white stripe and to the left—west. (The lower white strip is part of Stella's railing.)
To get to the other side, we have to walk over towards Yogi's (east/right), along the road (Pinecrest Drive) for a short way, then into the bush onto the other side of the marina.
Here we're in the bush, walking along the track, looking across at Yogi's Bar. That's the black-roofed building and the area directly this side of it. The red roof is just a roof ... there were plans at one stage for there to be a regular market with stalls in this area, but although it's advertises as such, apparently it didn't work out. So, no market. Shame—it would have been fun!
The track gets quite muddy after it's been raining, but we still managed to navigate our way along.
Looking back at Yogis.
Further along, looking back at Stella. You can see our rig just beyond the electric gate (at the end of the ramp). The gates are all locked for security reasons and give access to the boats. By now, we've come out of the bush and are walking along the path mentioned earlier, shown in the first two photos.
A little further on, looking back at Stella.
And then directly out at the marina. At this stage we've left Fairway Bay Marina, and we're now looking at boats in the Gulf Harbour Marina. The cut-off point is just this side of Stella.
Looking back at the path we've just walked along.
And forward ... walking around the side of some apartments in the Gulf Harbour Marina area.
Gulf Harbour apartments.
Past the apartments, we crossed over the road to arrive at a small block of shops. It's really just a small grocery store and a cafe—some real estate offices as well. I can't remember much else. You can walk around right beside the water—it's restful and pretty.
We stopped at Cherry Cafe for a coffee—those 'twin towers' are a bit of a landmark in Gulf Harbour.
We returned the same way we'd come. After walking back along the road and entering the Fairway Bay Marina land, there were a couple of pukekos off to the left of the path. They weren't bothered in the least by my presence; they were more interested in each other.
Love them or hate them, they really do have beautiful colouring.
As we head back 'home' towards Yogi's, there's a small beach area off to the right and also a picnic table and chairs under that beautiful old tree.
Directly ahead is The Kitchen Door. Sean bakes a variety of goods (the smell is delicious when you walk past!) including British-style pasties and pork pies—and yes, we've sampled them; the pasties are delicious, and the cold pork pies are different to any pies I've eaten before. I'm sure they're something ex-pat Brits would be keen to get their hands on. Sean sends out UK Food Parcels—maybe that's the bulk of his business as there's not a lot of foot traffic past here. Well, not at this time of year, anyway! You can check out The Kitchen Door and their goodies online here.
This beach is crushed shells and man-made. However, it's nice to actually have any kind of beach so close, although there's no swimming allowed here in the marina. Maybe we'll be able to paddle in the summer!
Lucy found a friend.
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