Popular Playground- Pilot Bay

Catch-up

Mt Maunganui's Pilot Bay is a very popular place to visit for locals and visitors at anytime of the year.

Whether is water or wind sports, big boats or small...

...boating, swimming, fishing, walking or strolling hand in hand along the boardwalk. Perhaps it's family picnics, BBQs or fish 'n chips at the tables or just watching the world come and go...

or maybe just sitting on the grassy bank with a loved one (or by yourself) watching the sun set...

....the small sheltered bay provides something for everyone.

From our campsite at the Mount Holiday Park we could also watch some of the comings and goings,  though it did depend on who camped between us and the view and how long they stayed. 

This couple had it worked out; they set up in the front corner campsite and had a prime view of Pilot Bay for the duration of their stay. I thought they must have been in such a hurry to relax that they forgot to put their awning up fully but someone suggested it may have been too small for the caravan. 

I also wondered how they fared when the 5am exercise buddy group went all out doing lunges, stretches and tossing around a weighted tyre while holding onto the fence and constantly shouting encouragement at each other. 

I went for frequent short walks along Pilot Bay's boardwalk with my camera...

...and sat beside the boat ramp, in the perfectly positioned bench seat, overlooking dozens of jetskies and boats as they left from and arrived back at the ramp.

When sleep eluded me, and while the camp silently slept and the streets were deserted...

... I walked up the 4WD track behind us to a small open plateau where the view over Pilot Bay, across to the lights of Tauranga Port, was spectacular.

Here, at 3am and with not another soul in sight I wiled away the hours as I trialed various camera settings and techniques. 

And then as the sun rose...

I captured the earlybirds; outrigger canoists practicing on Pilot Bay's calm waters...

...and fishermen leaving for their favourite spots out in the Bay of Plenty.

I did have some company one morning; these local residents were reluctant to move from their warm overnight grassy spots- obviously a popular night camp going by the poop I had to dodge. I wonder what they think as they watch the world wake up and the silence broken by the faint buzz of boats as they speed towards the harbour entrance.

Below me a fisherman tries his luck from the rocks near the Base Track as the sun rises on another blue sky day in the Bay (taken at 5:20am).

On this day and after the sun has risen, I headed down to the Base Track just as paddleboarder silently glided past. He's heading in the same direction as I, I bet he's off to see the same thing too. One of the season's many cruise ships coming through the entrance. 

You may have noticed the cruise ships in some of the photos. The next blog will be dedicated to my new 'train-spotting' ways- I captured every cruise ship that arrived while we were at the Mount. I also shot them as they left. And I have no idea why. I suppose just because I could.

Now here's a hot tip (literally) from an ex-local. Can you see your own secret (until someone spots you) spa pool in this photo? There's a slight movement on the surface water just above and to the right of those exposed rocks.

Now at low tide you can you see it. This is the cheapskates version of the Mount Hot Pools; the warm salt water from the pools is discharged through this outlet daily. Locals have built two small rock pools around the outlet...

...and children swim and adults soak in the pool at high tide and others soak their feet in it at low tide- it's the perfect spot to warm up after a swim in the cold sea water. That dash of light material that looks like something has spilt is actually crushed white shells.

Many find Pilot Bay too busy or too touristy but I have always enjoy visiting (even when we lived here). I love soaking up the year round holiday atmosphere from this jewel in the Bay of Plenty crown. It's also the perfect place to watch the sun go down on another stunning day in the Bay.

Out & About in Alex

Our next stop was a short 9kms down the road in Alexandra, where we parked up for two nights at Molyneux Park, a NZMCA POP. There’s a three night maximum stay and only eight vehicles at a time, are allowed to park over but we had the place to ourselves except for one vehicle who arrived late and left early on the last night. A little different to the last time we passed through Alexandra when we called into check the site out and it was full.

Molyneux Park contains Alex’s sports fields and buildings which are used for a range of sports from rugby, soccer, cricket to judo and squash, it also contains the aquatic centre, a skateboard bowl and an ice rink. David enjoyed having a spa, and swim in the heated pool, at the Aquatic centre. Other than Saturday morning the place was pretty quiet (a hint  for fellow campers- don't park near the skateboard bowl where kids now ride their bikes). On Saturday there was a steady stream of vehicles moving up and down the road delivering children to their Saturday morning sports, most seemed to be running late to get somewhere, hitting the speed humps with a good thump.

The park is also very handy to town with the supermarket just down the road. An ideal place to stop and do all the chores except for the lack of an easy access dump station in town. Try filling up with petrol (for generator), diesel (for heater & ute), water for house tank and dump the three house waste tanks on the forecourt of a busy Caltex service station on a Saturday morning. Dumping right beside the drive through carwash is very off-putting, both for us and the people waiting in their cars in the queue. And I can imagine Subway just behind the dumping vehicles gets a few unpleasant smells when the wind is blowing the wrong way!

Busloads of children arrived and departed from the ice rink during the day. An ice rink is another novelty for me, this is the first outdoor ice rink I have seen. I learnt to roller skate on a concrete rink, that’s all we had in Napier. The Marine Parade rink was my ‘hang-out’ place when I was a teen. How cool that the local children learn to ice skate and curl as part of their winter school curriculum, a skill they’ll have for life.

I love the penguin sledges which help them with their balance as they learn, I wonder if they have bigger versions for adults..... Don’t you love that little guy's helmet. And going by his skating skills I don't think he'll be keen to give the sledge away anytime soon. He knew what he was doing, racing fast everywhere and knocking a few kids off their feet along the way. His helmet matched his character for sure.

I’m not sure whether the rather large scary looking wooden sculpture near the front gate entices the little kids in, I saw a couple  giving him a wide berth. It was interesting watching the kids curl, those white ‘things’ are for balance instead of the brooms the big boys use. Check out the small child in the background on the bottom photo, hanging onto the wall for dear life- I think that’d be me if I tried to give it a go. Ice skating is a lot harder than roller skating.

Before we left Alexandra, I took a drive up to the lookout, that’s the Clutha River along the back and the Manuherikia River in the foreground, their junction is at the top left near the steel truss arch bridge over the Clutha. The town centre is on the point on the inside of the rivers.

It was late in the afternoon but I managed to take a few church photos- this is St Enochs Union Church built in 1877.

And I found ‘Shaky Bridge’, an historic suspension bridge built over the Manuherikia River. Before the bridge was built the only way across the river was by punt, the bridge was also used by wagons and horses however today the bridge is strictly for pedestrians only.

The bridge opened in 1879 at a cost of £974 and was later sold for £1 to two settlers living across the river. The bridge fell into a state of neglect but was eventually repaired, it was at this time the bridge was narrowed to foot traffic only.

And across the bridge I also found a great little cafe, aptly name Shaky Bridge Cafe which is part of the Shaky Bridge Vineyard next door. I bet this place is busy during the weekend and over the summer, there were many walkers, cyclists and runners crossing the bridge on their circuits even while I was there. We’ll have to stop there the next time we are in town.

How many astute readers noticed the clock on the hill in the photo, two above? This Alexandra icon has been hanging above the town since 1968 and lit up at night, it can be seen 5kms away. Here are the facts and figures-

• Diameter: 11m
• Minute Hand: 5.6m including the counterweight.
• Hour Hand: 4m including the counterweight.
• Weight: Each hand weighs approximately 270kg. The driving mechanism weighs approximately 760kg.
• Mechanism: Reduction gearboxes powered by one 3/4 hp synchronous motor.
• Lighting: 150 torch bulbs, powered by a reduction transformer.
• Structure: Six vertical steel columns averaging 7.3m in length, supported on concrete foundations, fastened into the rock face with steel supports.
• Location: On the Knobbies Range to the east of Alexandra.
• Height Above Sea Level: 200m

And one last photo, of the historic Vallance Cottage which was built in the late 1880s and lived in until the 1970s when there was still no running water inside and only cold running water in the separate wash-house. I didn’t check, but apparently the back door step is almost level with the ground due to the lady of the house being a “fastidious housekeeper” who scrubbed it daily. This tiny two bedroom mudbrick cottage was the home of William & Jean Vallance and their nine children. Nine children!!