Perfect Puriri Bay- Part 2

Catch-up

Continuing on from Part 1

On a perfectly calm day, David gave fishing a miss for the morning and we went exploring around the Whangaruru Harbour.

This abandoned bach on private Motukauri Island would have been a great place to get away from it all; it's waterfront, air conditioned, fishing available from the lounge door and it comes complete with its own super sized NZ Christmas tree. Paradise lost.

There are several small seaside holiday settlements on the other side of the harbour; one of these, Ohawini Bay can only be reached by driving along the beach two hours either side of low tide. A concrete track around the rocks at the end of the bay allows access to the next beach Parutahi and then it's up over a hill and into Oakura Bay.

I was keen to see Oakura Bay, our family stayed in a bach here when I was 12 and I have memories of us kids walking out to an island at low tide. I'd asked several people about this during our travels but everyone had said 'No, there's no island'. Well I finally saw my 'island', a small rock at the end of a short reef. It obviously seemed liked an island to my 12 year old eyes, and in my memory it even stretched half way across the bay!

While David fished the harbour I went exploring. Picnic Bay is just a short walk around a small bluff at the west end of Puriri Bay. As the same suggests, it's a popular place for day-trippers, and a sheltered bay for swimming if Bland Bay on the ocean side is rough.

I also walked the 5km Whangaruru North Head Track which I'd have to say was quite a challenge. Jocelyn had warned me that there were a couple of steep sections, which weren't too bad...

....and a lot of steps.

But I hadn't quite banked on 53 flights of them; 45 up and 8 down and all of them between 10 and 18 steps long! I like to keep count of the number of flights on walks. Usually I'm OK keeping the number in my head but not this time. I kept a track by taking a photo of the number at the top of a flight when it looked like there would be no more.

And that's why I now have about 10 or so leaf litter numbers in my photos, just when I thought I'd seen my last flight another one appeared! At least making them up gave me a chance to catch my breath before the next lot...

... along with taking photos of the native Greenhood Orchids I kept finding growing out of the steps.

The walk (and stairs) were worth it in the end just for the view of this beautiful little cove (which unfortunately you couldn't easily access)...

...and the rugged coastal views north of it.

I enjoyed the mass of Flax/Harakeke bushes alongside the track, all with flowering or in-bud spikes reaching for the sky. But I'd have to say I was happy to see the light at the end of a tunnel and know that it was all downhill back to camp from there.

During our stay at Puriri Bay, we made a day trip to Russell to top up with supplies. It's been a while since we've driven this road along the south coast of the Bay of Islands and without the rig on the back we were able to stop and admire the views along the way. Though these photos are ocean side south of Cape Brett.

And this is Elliot Bay, a stunningly beautiful private bay and beach. David has fond memories of summer camping here with friends just after he arrived in New Zealand back in the late 1960s, he thought he'd landed in Paradise. The farm, beach and camp area have been for sale for a number of years. It's yours for at a cool $15 million!

Puriri Bay was home to a pair of Variable Oystercatchers/Torea Pango and the day after we arrived I noticed them scratching about and carrying grass to the railings on the edge of one of the camping areas. I was up early the next morning to catch the sunrise and while they were both down on the rocks I went to investigate what they had been doing. A nest and an egg! They soon flew back squawking in alarm and dive-bombing me.

A couple of days later a second egg appeared...

...and then they took turns (although the female seem to do most of it) sitting and waiting...

...right in the middle of the campground on the edge of the bank, beside a track to the beach and with the holiday weekend fast approaching. I went and spoke to the camp manager and she gave me some tape and standards and I roped off the area around them, hoping that would offer them a little protection. It seemed to do the trick, most people avoided them or they were dive-bombed if they got too close- though this was usually little kids who had no idea what the tape was for and wanted to swing on it. They soon learnt.

This particular pair of birds were actually the friendliest Oystercatchers I have come across (when they weren't protecting their nest). They often flew in to get tip-bits from people who were feeding the ducks and I actually gave them pieces of snapper which they took from a couple of metres away. Disappointingly we left before the eggs hatched but I heard from another friend who stayed longer that two healthy chicks eventually hatched and were well looked after by a pair of doting parents.

If you've been a regular blog reader you'll know spring wouldn't be complete without a fluffy duckling drama or three!

I'm a sucker for duckling cuteness and no matter how many times I tell myself (and David tells me) not to get involved, I just can't help myself.

Puriri Bay certainly didn't disappoint. There were two families of ducklings in camp when we arrived and more joining them from the shelter of the reeds & creek on a daily basis as they hatched.

A continuous waddle of fluffiness moved back and forward through camp or along the beach during the day looking for handouts and trying to keep out of harms way.

I took a shine to the family in my photos because they were very friendly, they would often rest for an hour or so by our door mat. The ducklings weren't afraid to walk over my hands when I put them on the ground, so I was able to give them quick cuddles. Mum wasn't too concerned either. But that meant we had to watch where we stepped as they scrambled about over our feet too.

After a suitable rest period the ducklings would start to stir and shuffle about trying for a better place under the shade of mum's wings...

...then ready to go walkabout again, they'd stretch, do a little preening...

...and before waddling off have a drink and a swim in a bowl of water I put out for them. 

I used to have a large shallow planter dish for this purpose but I think somebody who shall remain nameless 'accidentally' left it behind somewhere. 

From the archives

Often the mother would leave the ducklings in a pile in the long grass near our front door, perhaps sensing that they'd be safe with us, while she flew off to God knows where, or sometimes she'd have been chased away by a drake and the ducklings would just wait for her return.

A Puddle of Ducklings

The numbers slowly dwindled as the days passed. It's a big bad world out there for ducklings. It's no wonder they have large broods as there are often only 2-3 left after a few weeks.

If they don't manage to get left behind by their unobservant mothers (I rounded up several ducklings to returned them to their family), they then have to walk the gauntlet past other duck mothers, bigger ducklings and marauding drakes all quick to give the younger ones a hammering.

And then there were the shags & pukeko. We witnessed both of these catching and killing ducklings; the pukeko were the worst, stalking the duck family until they saw a chance to make a grab and then making a run for it back to the high grass. Of course they were only feeding their chicks but still, it wasn't nice to watch (and not be able to do anything because we were too far away unlike the hawk I chased away another day).

I couldn't get close to the pukekos at all to take photos, the race off into the grass at any movement; this photo is at the long end of my lens and blurry but don't you love the chick's big feet!

But wait there's more!

Still to come- Shag City

Beach Hop South- Mataikona & Riversdale

Catch-up, this might be the last blog for a few days. Labour Weekend (a long weekend for Kiwis) is fast approaching and I think I'll take a few days off from my screen to relax and enjoy the early summer sunshine. 

As you've probably gathered from the previous Castlepoint blogs our sunny days in camp didn't last long. Two days of spring sunshine without the hint of a breeze and then dark storm clouds rolled in from the east.

For a few hours they stayed at sea and then headed north...

...before returning down the coast; with heavy rain and the wind whipping up the waves...

...and blowing bucket loads of sea foam and seaweed on shore.

The locals weren't impressed...

And nor were we...

It was cold, blustery and wet, there was nothing for it but to sit it out.

A gift for the locals came riding in on the waves...

A breakfast bar for birds- thousands of tiny goose barnacles smothered the log which would have been bobbing about in the ocean for a long while. Not quite above the tide line, the birds squabbled for the best position, landing and alighting as each wave swept over the top of it.  

After three days of stormy weather and cabin fever about to set in, we decided on a drive to blow the cobwebs away. And no, we did not stop at the local pub, the well known Whakataki Hotel which is back down the road about 5kms, just before the road hits the coast. The hotel is also CAP (costs apply parking) for NZMCA members, it used to be free parking until the usual happened, the minority spoilt it for the majority and abused the facilities. So now everyone pays.  

We turn off just before the pub, we're heading up the coast a short distance, to the settlement of Mataikona. The road is narrow and winding as it passes over a bluff but opens up once it reaches sea level again. We pass through a few small settlements, this one is called Sandy Bay. No prizes for guessing why.

And look, I found my ideal woolshed! With a cottage attached to the end of it. 

Further along the road we stop to check out some very fascinating rock formations. The Mataikona Rocks are a hidden geological gem; the spiky rows are the result of sandstone being compressed by the weight of the Pacific Ocean, then bent and buckled by colliding tectonic plates.

They are usually hidden by the sea so if you're wanting to see them, time your visit for low tide. The tide is on the way in when we stopped and by the time we returned back down the road, they were gone. I wanted to come back at low tide to walk out to the end and explore the rock pools but unfortunately the weather didn't settle until our last day. 

We very rarely come across traffic on these back country dead-end roads but today's vehicles are an unusual assortment; a fellow RVer freedom camping- he'd have been buffeted about overnight, a loaded logging truck, we moved off the road to let him past and I'm glad we didn't meet him on the bluff. And a police ute, which passed us twice, once while we were parked in the middle of the road! 

Just past Mataikona the road turns inland and follows the Mataikona River for a short distance before it becomes a 4WD track that comes out somewhere around Tinui. The river is also the province boundary line between Manawatu-Wanganui to the north and Wellington to the south.

We turn around just past the Paua Pad...

There are quite a number of  baches and make-do shacks sheltering in a pine plantation that runs alongside the road. I've been told that fishing and diving are very bountiful along this stretch of the coast.

On our way back to the main road we stop one last time, at the bluff, so I could take a photo looking down towards Castlepoint with Castle Rock towering above at the rear.

We then headed back inland to Tinui and down to Riversdale, 50 kms to the south of Castlepoint. At one stage we were going to take the 5th-wheeler down there and stay for a few days but with the weather not playing ball we decided to just do a day trip there. It rained on and off all the way...

...and it was cold and so blustery when we arrived, it was a quick run to the top of the sand dune to grab a shot and say 'been there, done that'. I don't even think David took a look. We found a sheltered spot at the end of the road to have lunch and then cursed the weather because we couldn't do an interesting walk along the beach, through the dunes and back along a stream. Well, we could have but it would have been no fun. 

Of course I couldn't leave without taking the obligatory church photo- Riversdale's St Josephs Church.

On the way home we stopped at the Tinui Cemetery where the Tinui Anzac Walkway begins. It's a steep climb to the top of Tinui Taipo (Mt. Maunsell) where the elusive ANZAC Memorial Cross is located (you'll recall I couldn't see it from the village). 

The walkway is through native bush plantings and  private farmland and is only open from Nov 1st to April 25th each year (which I think is just as well as I didn't really feel like a steep hike to the top). I'd seen a small pine enclosed in a cage near the information shelter when we were passing earlier and before realizing the significance of the walkway, I thought it might have been a wilding pine with an explanation as to why they are such a pest. Imagine my surprise to see that it was a very special Lone Pine! 

Back home and the barnacle bar is still providing food for the locals, this time a pair of Variable Oystercatchers, one with unusual striped underpants. Their antics reminded me of those slippery logs you  have to run across without falling off into the swimming pool. The tide spun it around and over as the birds ran up and down balancing carefully so as not to have to jump off.

They were late to the party though, most of the barnacles were gone. After seeing off the gulls they set about cleaning up the left-overs, sticking their bills down every nook and cranny prying out tasty morsels until the log was bare.

Mr & Mrs Red-billed Gull were not impressed.

Finally, after five days of cold, rain, wind and salt spray the sun came out....and David had to clean the van again! There's a lighthouse across there, somewhere.