The weather’s not so good today, it warm but overcast and there is intermittent rain. We are heading southwards and spend most of the day driving from Whatuwhiwhi to Orewa Beach just north of Auckland. We had planned an early start, but get waylaid talking to a New Zealand woman in her sixties who is on asolo kayaking and walking holiday. She has lived in the US for 38 years and has travelled extensively, so we have lots to talk about. Eventually we get away around midday a bit later than our intended 9.00 am departure. We take the longer scenic route along the Russell Road which involves taking the short ferry ride between Paiha and the Russell peninsular. The detour is definitely worth the extra time for the fabulous views of the rugged coastline and small bays along this stretch of the east coast.
We stop along the way at a small (in NZ terms at least), wild and rocky Elliot Bay which looks the sort that should be deserted. We have to be content to share it with two other people who are here to surf and fish if the boards and fishing rods are any indication, while two more turn up as we are leaving. Why is it that you can never get a beach to yourself when you want one! There is a certain fascination in watching the raw power of the waves breaking far out in the bay and rolling up to crash against this rocky shore and we spend a while strolling along the beach..
This our first night camping. Until now we have stayed in cabins on the Top Ten Holiday Parks. But we are right up against our budget – petrol is costing us more than we anticipated (NZ$1.65 a litre; cheap of course by UK standards) and the decision to take fully comp car insurance blew the hire car budget. So since the hire company gave us a tent for free we’ve decided to save some pennies whilst the weather is good. The holiday parks here offer a range of accommodation from fully self-contained units, kitchen cabins, cabins and campervan and tent sites. But unlike European sites, they are spotlessly clean and provide a comprehensive range of amenities including really good kitchen facilities, laundry and TV room, so camping only means sleeping under canvas, no need to rough it over a two-ring camping gaz stove or sit huddled in the tent when it rains.
The site at Orewa though is probably the poorest we have stayed at. It’s by far the largest but the kitchen is one of the smallest and the fridge and freezer capacity is woefully inadequate; there is barely enough space for our few bits and pieces. Bizarrely the toilet dump is right outside the kitchen door which seems remarkably unhygienic since spilled waste could easily be trodden into the kitchen.
The up side is that the sight is directly on the beach – another huge and windy bay with lots of surf and even a couple of people attempting to ride it. Orewa is a popular holiday and weekend resort for Aucklanders and it is also a one-night stop over for foreign tourists arriving into Auckland airport, picking up a campervan and heading north. We have one such couple pitched next to us who have so obviously never had a campervan before. The little telltale signs – not knowing how far the electrical cable will stretch, not being able to fix the waste discharge pipe so that it doesn’t leak and so on.