Never a dull moment

This last week a school was due into camp, they book out the whole camp for a week and usually set up on Sunday. So we made sure that campers who were in over the weekend were aware that they would have to vacate their sites on time rather than having the relaxed checkout times we allow at this time of the year.

We waited for the school to arrive, we waited and waited. I checked with Ranger Bruce and no, he hadn’t heard anything to the contrary and we were still expecting them. We didn’t mind, the peace and quiet was also most deafening

At 5pm Bruce turned up to tell us that he had just run into a colleague and whilst chatting Bruce mentioned the schools lack of arrival. Oh, did nobody tell you? they cancelled three weeks ago! Well, we are in for a very quiet week then as according to the online booking site, the camp is still booked out for the week. This anomaly was rectified late Monday morning so that others could now book in for the week. And Monday afternoon we did have one solitary camper book in, a man in his early 60’s. We passed pleasantries with him early in the evening and left him to do his own thing.

The evening passed quietly, we are enjoying this new found solitude and quietness, it feel a little bit like the first lockdown back in 2020 when we were on our own. But later that night things were to change.

At around 11pm we hear a knock at the door, Roy answered the door to find our solitary camper standing there. Can we have a look at the back of his head please, he thinks he’s cut himself. What happened? we asked. It transpired he had gone fishing off the rocks, stepped back and slipped hitting the back of his head on the rocks knocking himself out as well, he said he woke up and he was in the water! We got him inside and as I tended to his profusely bleeding head and seeing the large open gash atop an egg sized lump we decided to ring one of the Rangers. We first rang Bruce, but his phone went straight to messages, then Roy used my phone (his phone was flat, as was the phone issued to us for park use), so he called Emma, the duty ranger, except in his hurriedness, he called the first Emma on the phone list which just so happened to be a niece Emma in Dunedin!! That also went straight to messages. We would normally also use the Park issue phone to call the pager for a Ranger to call us but that phone was completely flat and not charging up quickly enough for us to use, and of course I don’t have the pager number saved to my phone (it is now) so we decided as he probably had concussion we would call 111, the emergency number.

Meanwhile I was trying to clean him up and stem the flow of bleeding so Roy dealt with the 111 call. After discussing it with the call taker they said they would get a nurse to call us back, and promptly hung up. By this time I had padded and bandaged the head wound as best I could and we waited. After an hour, the patient said he was feeling fine and he would return to his van for the night, and we would wait for the return phone call….which never came.

Next minute I hear a helicopter swooping around above us, circling around and disappearing for a few minutes before returning, surely it can’t be for us? we said. As we were debating wether we should call 111 again to make sure it wasn’t meant for us, we saw a stream of headlights coming into camp. One police car, followed by an ambulance followed by two more police cars and another ambulance!! Eeek, what on earth is going on?

Roy went to talk to them and to lead them to the patient, it transpired that the 111 call taker had neglected to take Roys phone number so they couldn’t contact us. Now, I was always under the impression that they would have had a call log or display to show the call number, but it seems in this case something had gone awry. So after another hour of the camp being lit up by spotlights, flashing lights and headlights, the patient was sorted and we were back to relative peace and quiet.

The next morning Bruce came to see us to see what had happened, it transpired that Emma did get a page from the police , Emma returned the the Police and they said no it wasn’t showing on their logs so she then rang the Council Park call centre to see who had initiated the page, but they couldn’t tell her (it transpired it was a newly employed call taker who forgot to alert supervisors of what had gone on). Of course the Police were looking for someone to give them the codes to get into the park through the locked gates, hence the number of police cars as they do have codes and keys to get in (they are held locally at the police station for emergency use). It was a case of left hand/right hand.

The excitement for the night was over and we got a couple of hours sleep. Thefisherman is fine after being attended to and fixed up, by ambulance staff but he will be a lot more cautious as well as being better prepared in case anything happens again. I did suggest that he wear a water activated inflatable life jacket when he goes fishing off the rocks, especially at night and when he is on his own, wether he heeds that advice is another matter.

Merry New Year

Merry salutations of the festive season to you all, we hope it has been all that you wanted. We have settled into routine of life at Shakespear but although I say routine, it is definitely not the same every day as each day brings something or someone new.

Christmas Day came and went and was very uneventful. Antony came up to stay for a couple of days and we had a very relaxed Christmas Day and dinner. It was a very hot day and even though we were under shade for the majority of the day, we all glowed somewhat by early evening. In my usual tradition I did not take a single picture the whole day.

We had the video call from Callum on Christmas evening our time, Christmas morning their time, and it was just delightful to watch Callum open our presents.

Callum showing off his spoils to his TV Grandma and Grandad

One of these days he will get a shock when he discovers that we don’t live in the television.

The advent calendar was dutifully hung ready for the countdown to Christmas.

Callum’s completed advent calendar

Callum also hung his stocking ready for Santa to deliver presents, although we are told that he was not overly impressed with the whole Father Christmas idea.

Finds from our container clear out, Antony & Alexandra’s stockings made in 1988 and Ian’s completed 2021. The latter two will be hand delivered sometime in 2022 all going well 🤞

Callum making Christmas biscuits.

And guess who got a drum kit for Christmas? Watch to the end for his epic conclusion to his performance!!

New Years rolled around very quickly, Antony came up for the weekend and in our usual manner, we were all in bed before midnight letting others see the New Year in. Although it was not an entirely uneventful evening, late afternoon I saw a woman hurriedly running across the camp toward us. She explained that her husband had gone to sit in a chair, the chair collapsed catching one of his fingers in the framework chopping through his finger and bone resulting with it basically amputated only hanging on by a strip of skin!!! She wanted to know where the nearest A&E was, we made the quick decision that it was better to call for yan ambulance. Antony took on the role of lead coordinator ringing the ambulance as I, along with two off duty Rangers, went to see if we could do anything practical. They already had him in the car with his hand tightly wrapped in a towel, with his hand raised above his head, ready to head off to an emergency clinic. He was in pretty good spirits, telling me he felt no pain, hmmm shock had obviously set in, meanwhile Antony was coordinating with the ambulance a meet up point to get the patient to emergency services as quickly as possible and making sure that he was ok. The Rangers headed off to unlock the gate and Antony went off with the patient and his wife Sue in the car as he was now the main point of contact, being instructed what to do and where to meet. They apparently met the ambulance at the Manly Fire Station, where he was duly seen to, given pain medication (pain was starting to kick in by now) and he was taken off by ambulance. Of course in these Covid times, no one could go with him in the ambulance nor go to A&E so before long Antony was returned to the park. Antony got a message from Sue the following day to say thank you for all his help and to say that he had been taken to North Shore Hospital then transferred to Greenlane Hospital for surgery to insert a pin and stitch together his finger. Ouch!! We understand that he now recovering at home, relaxing in front of the TV watching cricket. I

Serious card playing on New Years Eve.

Funnily enough we had just been talking about the fact that our First Aid certificates needed updating as our refresher courses had been delayed due to Covid, however Antony had just renewed his First Aid and was telling us of the extra things he gets training for with the Police (sucking chest wounds, gun shot wounds etc), hence his calm head in this situation. All in all an eventful end to the year.

Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2022, best wishes to you all.

It’s not all calm and quiet

Occasionally we have a little bit of excitement in camp, just to keep everyone on their toes. We were just about to start cooking dinner on Saturday night when a fire engine came into camp, they stopped outside our van and asked if we could direct them to the emergency? and could I unlock the gates? After reading on their pager where they were instructed that the emergency was located, I unlocked the gates and sent them off into the paddocks, leaving the gates open as they said another truck was on its way.

Well, three fire trucks, one specialist fire truck, two emergency utes, one police car and an ambulance later plus the duty Ranger Dave, it was all on.

Two fire trucks and the smaller specialist emergency tender outside our van.

Off duty Head Ranger Bruce and his wife Leanne, just so happened to be visiting us for the evening for a few games of cards (yes Marilyn, 5 crowns has us all hooked!), but we all sat back and let the emergency crews do what they needed to do.

Apparently, a couple had gone for a walk around the rocks, but got caught out by the incoming tide. They made the decision to attempt to climb the cliff to the safety of the farmland up behind the campground, he safely made it to the top, unfortunately his wife made it within a few metres of the top before sliding back down 4 metres or so, scraping and bruising herself, running out of energy and could not climb any further.

All the following photos are courtesy of Dave, who was on hand as duty Ranger.

Cross country fire truck, the sheep seemed unimpressed.

Fire truck on its way and a plan being sorted

Getting into gear

Safety lines attached to two utes

Getting ready to climb down

Checking all the safety gear before sending someone over the edge

The lady in question was safely and efficiently brought up onto terra firma before being checked over by paramedics. She was in a bit of shock, with scrapes and bruises but otherwise unharmed.

The nice firemen took her off to be checked over but before they left, they treated the kids in the camp to a lights and sirens display in their trucks.

Meanwhile the serious stuff of cards games continued! or we tried to continue but a constant stream of concerned campers wanting to know what was going on interrupted the games.

The moral of the story? Check the tide times before setting out around the foreshore and if you find yourself in difficulty either retrace your route and get a little wet (the sea was incredibly calm) or stay exactly where you are on dry land and call for help.

Mum’s the word

When your son is 32 and about to have surgery for his ACL and MCL repairs on his knee then a Mum does what a Mum does best, she hops into the car and heads to the other side of the city to look after him.  Antony was scheduled for surgery on Friday afternoon and with it being Auckland Anniversary weekend I knew the roads would be busy so I headed off down to his place in Papakura on Thursday ready for an easy trip into the hospital in Epsom on Friday.  

Midday Friday and we arrived at the hospital in plenty of time however we both commented on our way in that the southbound traffic on the motorway was starting to build up which made us think that the better way for me to return to Papakura would be through Mt Eden and onto the southwest motorway.  It’s just as well I know my way around Auckland reasonably well and can try and circumnavigate any traffic issues.   First, we got Antony admitted into the hospital and ready for his surgery which would be happening in a couple of hours time.  There was the usual medical things to attend to but  also the menu to fill out for his evening meal and breakfast tomorrow.

This was his evening menu choice….

Not bad eh? Mind you, I’m not so sure that dinner is high priority in ones mind after surgery, but as he had not eaten or drunk anything since the previous night then I guess he may be a tad peckish.

I left him in the care of the medical staff as there was no point in me waiting around as I could not really do anything and the surgeon would call me once Ants was in recovery to let me know how he got on.  I headed back throuh Mt Eden and onto the the south west motorway.  It was a trouble free, traffic free, run all the way along the motorway until approaching Manukau where, luckily, the electronic motorway info board was telling me that the southern motorway was blocked from Manukau south and I could see the traffic queued ahead of me for the on ramp.  So quick decision time, get off and head to Papakura over the back road.  Just as well I took this option  as the following was the sight from the Manukau overbridge looking north.

Looking south was even worse but I didn’t have time to take a photo of that. I found out later that there was a car on fire further south and all lanes were blocked.

Even so, my return trip took just over an hour whereas it is usually a 30minute journey.  It didn’t seem as though I had been back very long before the surgeon rang to tell me all was well and everything had gone to plan with the surgery and I could pick him up the following morning.  

It wasn’t too long after that that Ants rang me to tell me he was ok just a little groggy.  Later on he sent me a pic of his dinner…

And it doesn’t look bad either.


I returned the following morning, following the same route, and after been given all the instructions for wound dressing and with prescriptions to fill on the way home, we were soon on our way.

He has been a very good patient, and I am very sure that my calling in life was definitely NOT as a nurse,  especially the wound dressing stuff!  But I steeled myself and did the brave thing and changed the dressingbefore and during

 I am much better at other things and I have kept myself busy with washing, cleaning and lots of cooking as well as running around making sure He has everything he needs.  His freezer is now full of meals for when he’s back on his own and I return to the van.  But then it will be Dad’s turn to have a few days playing nurse.



Rarawa – Auckland – Rarawa

We left Matai Bay on a Sunday afternoon for Kaitaia as the van was booked in for the final bit of work to be done on the brakes as the parts had arrived from the USA, as well,  a couple of other jobs  were being completed.  However, things never seem to go smoothly, the parts that we had had sent out were not the right ones.  As you were folks, put everything back together then spend the next day researching and checking on hopefully getting the right parts.  It would be so much easier if there were part numbers, or if the size matched what was supposed to be on the van.  Anyway, in the end  it was all sorted, more parts ordered and we were sent off to return at a later date.

Off we went to Rarawa and the DoC camp there, where Pat & Sue were already parked, we set ourselves up, this time in another location, tucked into a corner on the upper level. 

The weather has been pretty good, although we have had a lot of wind with some of it even from the right direction for some kite fishing. But more on that later.

A large part of the camp is roped off as they had recently closed the whole camp whilst they dealt with an infestation of Argentinian Ants.  Who knew that these tiny creatures could create such damage.  

According to the DoC website Argentine Ants  are one of the world’s most invasive and problematic ant species. They are very aggressive, and although they are not poisonous, they do bite. Unlike other ant species, Argentine ant colonies cooperate with each other, and can combine over winter into super-colonies. They reach enormous numbers, which means they have a huge appetite. It also makes them more aggressive towards other insect populations through their sheer numbers.

The best way to tell Argentine ants from other ants is by their colour and trails. Argentine ants are small (2-3 mm long)and honey-brown in colour, while most other common household ants in New Zealand are black.  

Argentine ants can have a massive impact on the natural environment. While they are one of the major household and garden pests, they pose a serious threat to the conservation values of our reserves and natural areas. These threats include:

eliminating other species of ants

competing with kiwi for food such as insects and worms

competing with other native birds and lizards for nectar

displacing and killing native invertebrates

Argentine ants are now known for many parts of Auckland and Northland, as well as Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Nelson 

The camp will be closed again from next week so that DoC can do a secondary bait laying process to make sure they are all dealt with.

Meanwhile, I (Bernice) have been to Auckland and back for a few days.  A trip which is around 5 1/2 hrs driving time each way, plus of course you have to allow more time for stops for refuelling both the car and driver as well as the odd traffic hold ups.  An interesting sight on the way down to Auckland was this convoy of three four wheel drive vehicles which were absolutely covered in mud.  

A muddy convoy which I followed from north of Kawakawa to where I turned off the motorway at Albany, a distance of over 200kms

Why was I doing this trip? Well, our son Antony had had a bit of a mishap whilst playing bubble soccer – yes, it is a ‘thing’ – with a group of mates on a weekend away in Queenstown.  Bubble soccer

Actually, it was a bit of a serious oops as it seems he has torn his MCL and ACL ligaments in his left knee. Ouch.   I went down to give him a hand with a few things and also to provide moral support when he went to see  the surgeon and make sure we asked all the right questions.  His leg is very swollen and bruised from above the knee right down to his foot, and of course rather painful.  But what I didn’t realise was that before he can have surgery to repair the damage, he has to have regained the full range of motion in his knee.  So today he starts physio.  

Meanwhile Mum did her thing, by washing, cleaning, tidying, cooking, shopping, transporting.    Oh and even a bit of ironing…some of the 17, yes that right, 17 shirts I ironed!!

Once I had done as much as I could it was back up to Rarawa. We have been fishing a few times off the beach with some success as well as a good failure when on one outing our line got caught on something and we lost all our traces, sinkers and hooks.  Luckily this all happened before I went to Auckland so I was able to call into the store to replace all the lost gear. 

But with days like this in the picture below, what could be nicer than spending an afternoon on the beach?

Somewhere out there is a kite, and of course some fish on our line too.
Next week it is back to Kaitaia to have the last bit of work done on the van before we move southward ready to start our camp hosting duties at Shakespear for the summer.