Ardmore

We are now parked up at the very new NZMCA Park located within the Ardmore Airfield. One of the benefits of belonging to the NZ Motorhome & Caravan Association are the number of park over properties located around NZ. These provide safe & secure parks for members to stay at minimal cost. And by minimal it really is, $2 a night per person.  

The parks usually have water available, some have rubbish collection & dump stations. Inside the small kiosk where you register & read any notices there is often a book exchange and outside usually a small herb garden, which I was very grateful for last night, I used some of the parsley when I made dinner.  

We arrived fairly early yesterday as we only had 70kms to travel from Miranda and there were't any other vans in the park. We parked up in the corner with a good view of the planes coming & going on the runway just a few hundred metres away. Auckland has had a fair bit of rain recently & we could see that the ground was a bit boggy in the centre as we walked across the field to check out the access, so we drove in around the edge to our spot.  

 

Unfortunately the large bus towing a car on an A-frame that arrived next, drove in and across and promptly got stuck! The air was blue for a while and the wife got all the blame. Another motorhome arrived shortly afterwards and luckily he knew the contractor that mowed the park and whose tractor was still parked down the back. Half an hour later he arrived and with abit of manoeuvring and advice from the 'helpful' bystanders (David included) the bus came free.  They moved it onto more solid ground and when we came back after a drive later on, there were two more buses parked  beside them. The message had obviously been passed on. 

 

 

We were up early and ready to watch the America's Cup racing this morning & were disappointed (as likely the rest of NZ were) when it was postponed. So I cooked up a 'big breakfast' to drown our sorrows and just before it was ready there was a knock at the door & I got to meet "Smillie" a lovely lady who belongs to a forum that I contribute to. She got to meet David & I in our PJs & dressing gowns! And just in case you're wondering she was not in the bus that got stuck.

We are shifting into the city later this morning as we have some shopping to do- Katmandu @ Silvia Park :) and we're hoping to catch up with David's sister tonight. We'll also be handy to Alexandra Park where we will head tomorrow morning. Alexandra Park is next to the show grounds and where we'll be parked up for the duration of the show and the rally which is happening there at the same time.

As I type, David is getting everything ready for us to move on out and I have the feeling that this is going to be a very busy place tonight, four buses & vans have arrived just in the last half hour. A lot of these people will be heading to Alexandra Park tomorrow too.

Simpson’s Beach, Whitianga

I can tell you, I’m seriously getting sick of hearing waves out of my bedroom window! Not.

We are parked up by some large pines in another sheep paddock beside another beautiful beach. This is Simpsons Beach, named after the Simpson family that own most of the land around here. We’re at another LCP site, that’s short for “Low Cost Parking”, where you’re welcome to stay as long as you’re fully self-contained; this one is only $5 a night. Now that is cheap. Simpsons Beach is very well known & I’ve heard that the paddock is packed to the gunwales over the summer months. Tonight there are just five of us parked up, the nearest van is a good 100 metres away. 

The Simpson farm is 1000 acres and has been in the family since 1927, 86 year old Mr Simpson greeted us at the office(his backdoor) & when David mentioned that he’d known the camp site from when he visited Whitianga back in the 70’s, Mr Simpson told us that they were a dairy farm back then & the campers used to come to the shed for their milk, thruppence for a billy can.

That's us, the second shiny spot under the big pines at the end of the beach

Simpsons Beach is at the bottom of Mercury Bay, alongside Buffalo Beach and about 5kms from Whitianga town. We’re in familiar territory now having spent many hours cruising around Mercury Bay and berthed at Whitianga Marina when we weren’t visiting the Mercury Islands. Whitianga also holds many happy memories for David, his parents lived at Harbour Lights, overlooking Whitianga, back in the early ‘70s which was not long after they emigrated to New Zealand. David’s sister & husband owned the local Four Square store & he spent many weekends & holidays driving to & from Auckland to visit them all & to fish & dive in the area. The Four Square is long gone but while waiting for our Fish ‘n Chip lunch David spotted an old photo on the wall that had a section of the store in it. Obviously this is well before Jackie & Bob owned it.

Four Square on the right

After getting the van set up & levelled; we’re getting very good at packing & unpacking now that we’ve moved so often, we both have out routines & check lists to follow and it doesn’t take too long at all, we headed off to town to see if much had changed since our last visit. We had a wander through town, fish ‘n chips on the beach for a late lunch & then a stroll back along the river to the marina with a stop to watch the ferry that takes people across the estuary to Ferry Landing, the oldest stone wharf in Australasia built in 1837. There are quite a number of fabulous beaches on the otherside that run along the southern side of Mercury Bay & around onto the eastern coast. These are 46 kilometres away by vehicle due to a very large estuary that takes a big bite out of the land.

We spent a bit of time at the wharf watching a skipper & his first mate getting ready to go fishing. The boat was a commercial long liner & they were baiting up the hundreds of hooks, makes the recreational fishermen’s limit of two lines with 25 hooks each look a little puny! They’ll leave port around 4am tomorrow and be back mid afternoon with their catch, mainly snapper but including gurnard & tarakihi. The boat travels at 5knots while the line is fed out the back, the first mate clipping each baited hook onto the line as it passes him by, hence the carefully placed baited hooks onto the square board that looks a lot like a weaving loom to me!

White Star Station

 

White Star Station- the white tracks through the grass is topdressing that has just been laid.

We're now parked up at another farm in Colville for a couple of nights before we press on to Port Jackson. White Star Station is named after a gold mine that was on the property early last century. This family farm is over 6000 acres and is run by a fifth generation farmer and one of his sons, there are lots of different accommodation options and activities available for visitors although this is the beginning of the low season & we were the only ones parked up by the cottages last night. Tonight we have two other couples for company, one lot in a cottage & the other in a small pup tent in the middle of the paddock.

We had called ahead to check on what was available & to make sure it was OK to come, there aren't too many options for parking over up here near the tip of the peninsula & we didn't want to be caught out. Our hostess wasn't here on arrival but this is what we found on the office door along with a phone in a bucket to call should we have any problems. That's what it's like in rural New Zealand, very trusting people.

We could have parked out in the paddock if we'd wanted to but we decided on having power, showers & toilets handy & internet access because for the next 10 days we'll not have any of that. We'll also be able to top up with fresh water & keep our grey & black water tanks reasonably empty by using the facilities. There are no dump stations at the DOC camp at Port Jackson.


That's us parked up beside a couple of old caravans that are used for accommodation during the summer 

There are many farm tracks that lead all over the farm and up the hills & ranges behind, there are lookouts, waterfalls & caves, old mines to explore & glow worms to find but we decided to take the ute along one of the lower tracks that lead to Dutchmans Camp about 3kms away. Here two "wilderness" cabins are located deep in the bush beside a mountain stream. A place to disappear from the world for awhile.

There were some beautiful nikau palm groves along the track. Nikau palms are New Zealand's only native palm and an iconic kiwi symbol. These would have been left from the original virgin forest that covered the peninsula. There were also very large puriri trees and of course pohutukawas.

 

Back at camp later in the afternoon we were welcomed by the farm pup, he was a little naughty though & had to be shooed away in the end. But he was very cute. The chooks also came to check us out but thankfully the two Tamworth pigs were enclosed in there sty. David went over to the yard & fed them out vegetable scraps tonight which by the sound of it they were very pleased to have.

We took a drive up to the Colville settlement which is just a couple of kilometres away, this is a "blink & you'll miss it" place; a very old General Store, just like they used to be, a small Post Office that's open 3 afternoons a week, a cafe, a hall & tennis courts. That's it. Oh & some very pretty toilets, the front covered totally in mosaics.

More photos here from White Star Station & Colville

Rustic Farmyard- Kirita Bay

After 3 nights we are about to leave one of what I’m sure is going to be our more interesting sites. This is the NZMCA lowcost park over property that we were wanted to stop at in the pouring rain the other day when we came up the coast. We liked the look of it and decided to come back here, mind you on first impressions we wondered if we’d made the right decision. The road down to this beautiful bay is rather steep & narrow but Marie, our host, told us on the phone ‘no problems, our laden sheep trucks come & go all the time’ & it wasn’t that bad although everyone we’ve met down here is a little afraid of the return journey especially the 2wd vehicles &/or meeting another vehicle on the way down. Stopping & starting 4 times to open & close gates doesn’t help either, especially the vans that only have one person in them.

And Marie was right, we managed fine. There was one other fifth-wheeler already parked up (they had brought their large dog & two parrots on holiday with them!) and with the direction of little signs we found our way through the mass of retired farm junk, buildings & machinery to the beach front. 

The Welcoming Committee

We did meet George, Marie’s husband on the way down & he directed us to park along the garden fence at the back of the site so the smaller campervans could park along the front when & if they arrived later in the day. Another benefit of us not being in a hurry & travelling short distances is we get to a new site late morning/early afternoon and have the pick of spots.

The “garden fence” was a rickety old farm fence that had in a previous life surrounded the holding yard of an equally rusty & rundown cowshed.  It now enclosed a large vegetable patch at the end of its summer growing season although there was a row of kumara (sweet potato) coming along nicely for winter. The local turkey family & a few blackbirds were sampling the tomatoes & many of the pumpkins were half eaten. Obviously the netting draped over the pumpkin patch did not work although it must have slowed the turkeys down a bit; I rescued a young turkey chick at one stage who was trussed up like, well, a turkey. He’d been doing a few backward & forward rolls trying to catch up with his mother & sibling when they took off without him.

We lined up nice & straight along the fence leaving enough room to open the slide-out, it wasn’t until we sat down at the table and there right outside our dining room window were 3 large piles of cow dung! Put there to fertilise the garden for the next season I’m assuming but right now sitting steaming away in the hot afternoon heat, smelling very high & attracting flies from all directions. But then along came the farm chooks which over the 3 days we’ve been here have quickly demolished & scattered each pile, scratching, pecking & clucking their way through finding lots of tasty grubs & seeds on the way. The highlight for me though were the family of quail, eight cocks & one very pretty hen, that came in the late afternoon to do the same. Fantastic! What gorgeous wee birds they are with fabulous feather detail, something I’ve not seen up close for awhile as they are quite timid birds.

As the afternoon wore on other campervans & buses trickled in & found their positions. It wasn’t too large an area but everyone was very mindful of not blocking other’s views. By nightfall there were ten buses, vans & fifth-wheelers parked up. There were about the eight on the second night and last night seven vans of various types, 3 tents, 6 fizz boats & 22 fisher-men & women from Papamoa. The farm has a bach (holiday cottage) in the corner of the bay where quite a few of them slept. They were quick to apologise for any noise they were going to make last night but in fact we didn’t hear a thing, probably because we were making our own noise with 2 couples across the way. I mean how could you not join in when one of the buses had this number plate and there was a beautiful sunset to watch.

We will have to keep an eye on our evening entertainment as it would be very easy to get into the happy-hour routine & while there’s nothing wrong with that when you’re on holiday for a week or so we wouldn’t like to make a habit of it every night of the week for the next year or so!

One evening after he’d mustered the lambs down to the woolshed just behind the camp site(he was dosing them the next day), George stopped by for a chat along with the farm dogs who waited patiently while he drank a beer & told us about the farm. He was the seventh generation to farm the large station and times have & still are very tough. I asked him when he had stopped milking, “November, 1979” he said matter-of-factly; I’m not sure whether he was so exact about the date because he was pleased or sad about that fact. The very hilly & steep land didn’t seem to me to be very suitable for dairying. They now just run sheep & beef. The motorhome park brings in a little more income & I wonder why more farmers aren’t doing this as it’s a relatively easy way to diversify and provide some fantastic overnighting opportunities for motorhomers. With the amount of coastline NZ has there are sure to be hundreds of accessible private bays like Kirita Bay.

I climbed up the hill behind us one evening to catch this old gnarly Puriri tree & pump shed in the good light of the late afternoon sun, an added bonus was the house cow & calf enjoying the view as well.

We are beginning to learn that you can never judge a book by its cover while living life on the road, we had a most wonderful stay & thoroughly enjoyed our visit.