Packing up did not take long and we were soon ready to leave Ruakaka camp, we have really enjoyed our time here as it has been very quiet, relaxing, with a lovely outlook and we have enjoyed utilising all the amenities here as well. We bade farewell to the friendly staff and headed off down the road back to Auckland. We have a few chores and shopping to complete whilst we are in Auckland as well as catching up with lots of friends and family.
The drive down was reasonable, just follow the line of cones then onto the new motorway and before you know it we are there.
Cones start on the north side of the Brynderwyn’s heading south plus we had an escort of the road traffic management truck as there was another truck in front of this one where someone was placing more cones along the road.
Major earthworks are still underway on the Brynderwyn’s hills after serious damage was done at the beginning of the year with cyclones and seemingly never ending rainfall.
Great feat of engineering on the south side of the Brynderwyn’s
A quiet drive through the Dome Valley which is surely on the list of major improvements if not a bypass, then we are onto the newly opened northern part of the motorway which avoids the Warkworth bottleneck.
New motorway section and another example of great engineeringNew Puhoi road and viaduct with Johnson Hill tunnels in the distanceTunnels ahead
We arrived at our destination, the bus is parked up safely for a week or two whilst we head off to house sit for a while, but then we shall be picking it up to take it into the repair shop for a bit of cosmetic surgery in a couple of weeks time!
Parked safely while we take a break.
There’s new innovation to be seen at road works, the following was noticed in and around Albany.
Stop/Go man, nothing different to see here? But do note the traffic lights behind himThe Stop/Go sign is automated, (s)he doesn’t have to turn the sign any more, no, it’s done for them! what’s more, it looks as though it is solar powered.
But what was really interesting was at the weekend when there is no one working, the traffic lights are put into action. I’m not sure why the traffic lights cannot be used during the week, anyone know?
After two weeks at Ruakaka, we decided that we would extend our stay for another week. However that meant a move, a big move. It seems the campground has a policy of asking all campers to move sites after 14 days (not sure of the reasons why and I didn’t ask), so we are on the move.
Moving day dawned with gale force winds and rain making its presence felt in squally showers but we put on our big boys pants and in between showers and wind we packed up everything and moved.
In our new parking spot….and note we have even turned ourselves around so we have a different outlook.
We weren’t moving far, in fact we moved over just one parking spot/site/pitch to where Garry had been parked. It was a flawless and painless move and we were soon settled just as the weather came right as well. Here we would stay for another week, enjoying the ever changing views.
Spot the difference! Yes, we moved over one space to where Garry was parked
We met up with Gary & Marg one day for lunch at Bach, a cafe next to the Ruakaka Surf Life Saving Club, offering excellent food & coffee. Even better was sitting out in the warm sunshine enjoying lunch and company as another couple of friends of G&M joined us. A long relaxing lunch was enjoyed by us all. Then on the Saturday we headed round to G&M’s along with another couple to watch the All Black rugby game against Australia. That was a close one, but the coaching/refereeing bystanders in the lounge setting had a lot to say as well as giving plenty of advise, not that much was being observed via the TV so it seemed. Yet another fun afternoon and evening telling lots of tall tales and recalling funny incidents.
Roy & I returned to Bach for a Sunday brunch treat, and delicious it was too, lucky we didn’t know about this place earlier as we may well have tried a few more items from the menu, but I’m sure we will be back in a couple of months time.
There were trips into Whangarei, chores to be done but the days rolled on by and soon our relaxing break in Ruakaka came to an end and it was time for us to head off ready for the next exciting adventure. But where are we going and what are we doing? Stay tuned to see where we are heading next!
Another week has slipped on by, the weather hasn’t exactly been playing ball but it is what it is. Garry came to join us for a few days, we hoped to get some serious fishing in but the wind and rain is just playing havoc with any fishing plans.
The three of us went into Whangarei to get a few chores and shopping done. When Garry arrived on Tuesday I noticed that the air in one of his caravan tyres had risen to the top of the tyre with not a lot at the bottom. I got our compressor out to pump it up, however it wasn’t long before we could hear the air escaping from a hole somewhere, bother. A quick change of tyre and the tyre will have to be taken into the repair shop in Whangarei. A number of other items were ticked off our list whilst in town and we were soon heading back to camp.
Parked up with Garry
We are enjoying having Garry here for a few days and eventually the fellas did get a fishing trip in but came back empty handed, but another day tomorrow.
Roy & Garry off for a walk to the beach for a bit of fishing….only one fish was brought home
Garry was off again for the weekend and we had things to do. The weather came right too (of course) with our drone pilot away we could only hope it stays fine for when he returns on Sunday.
Garry returns, caught in the act putting his stabilisers down. A bit of a running joke as he hardly ever puts them down but he had invited us to his place for dinner and was putting the legs down in our honour!
More forays were made to the beach for fishing but unfortunately the fish were not biting.
The birds were fishing (and catching)
We had some amazing sunsets and beautiful evenings.
Evening views, beautiful, even with the tide out and the estuary a sandy playground for the birds.
Speaking of birds, the ducks seemed to think that it would be great to take up residence on our outdoor mat. I wouldn’t mind but they do leave their calling card!
Mr & Mrs Duck come visiting.
Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Callum graduates from nursery and has a bit of fun.
Top two pictures are Callum’s graduation. Bottom left is Callum holding the gingerbread Eiffel Tower he baked and decorated – apparently the idea came from one of his current favourite books in the Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam series, and bottom right practising his spelling at bath time.
Ok, I admit that it has been a very, very, long time since we have done this, in fact so long that neither of us can recall the last time we’ve done it! Get your minds out of the gutter, I mean it’s been a while since we’ve been in a camp ground! As regular readers will know, it is not very often that we venture into full service campgrounds, in fact I cannot even think of the last time we were in a campground. Oh yes, now I can recall, it was for one night after our escape from lockdown in Fielding at Flat Hills camp, prior to that? I have no idea, but I think it may have been when we last came to this campground in 2017.
We left Uretiti to travel the huge distance of 5km to Ruakaka as we were heading to the Ruakaka Holiday Camp. It was offering a special weekly winter rate which included stunning waterfront views, on power with all the facilities that go with being in a campground.
We had ummed and ahhhed about just staying on at Uretiti and paying the weekly rate there as our pass can only be used for one week before we have to pay but in fact it is a much cheaper at the Holiday Camp. We didn’t have to think too hard, stay at the DOC camp which has no facilities apart from the basic water and long drop toilets or at the Ruakaka Park which has full facilities ie. hot showers, flush toilets, kitchen facilities, dining room, laundry, power, water and dump stations, it was a no brainer to come and stay here.
We arrived in stunning sunshine but with bad weather forecast we knew we had to make the most of it whilst we could. We set ourselves up, went to plug into the power socket but what’s this? our cord was about 2metres too short. Bother! It would reach if we turned the bus around and backed into our site but we wanted to be able to have the view out of the front windows. Oh well, we shall have to buy an extension when we go into Whangarei to do the grocery shopping.
View across the estuary (tide is out) to Whangarei HeadsNot a bad view out of the front windscreen
We were quickly settled in and set up, so why not head into Whangarei this afternoon to get the shopping out of the way? Which is exactly what we did. We had a long list of shopping and supplies to get, including the special, campground approved, power cord extension.
We soon had everything completed and were back at camp before too long. Power was restored, the tank filled with water, cupboards and fridge filled, we are set to relax for a while.
Just as well we sorted everything the previous day as Thursday dawned not so bright. The weather really packed in. The wind and rain continued on all day and into the night, fortunately it was coming at us head on but we were still being buffeted by strong gusts of wind, much stronger it seemed than the winds we experienced earlier in the year with Cyclones Gabrielle or Hale. We were comfortably hunkered down in the van with Roy having some work to do for a client and I had some knitting to do.
That evening we watched from the comfort of our nice warm and cozy home the Football Ferns open the Football World Cup tournament in Auckland with a fabulous win over Norway.
We woke the next morning to bright sunshine and not a breath of wind.
Low cloud in the distance creeping along at sea level.
The fine weather wasn’t to last though and by mid afternoon the rain started again as well as the wind, this time coming from a different angle meaning we did get a little buffeted.
We were surprised to see a number of people coming into the camp on the Friday for weekend getaways, it seems to be quite a popular place for many people.
We seem to have quickly settled into a routine of sorts, enjoying the sunshine when we can, doing odd jobs and generally keeping ourselves busy. Well, watching sport or reading is classed as an activity isn’t it?
It seems we are somewhat creatures of habit, looking back over the years we seem to have returned to Uretiti around this time of the year making the most of a bit of downtime before we head to Shakespear for the summer. However, this year it seems as though NZ has had a very wet winter and spring and as a result the ground is waterlogged with mini lakes forming all throughout low points at the DOC camp site.
Lakeside views anyone?There’s a road under there somewhereAnd another part of the road covered in water
The managers, Steve & Adrien have had the pumps running all day everyday to try and drain the water, however no sooner do they make some headway then the heavens open with another deluge.
The view from the bedroom window Parked in our favourite spot hidden from view…on a sunny day! This is the view from the bedroom window. After pumping water out for the day, the road is now clear….until the next rainfall.
Garry came up to join us for a week which meant we could venture out to do some fishing together.
No too many others on the beachGood sized fish were caughtFish chilling time
It wasn’t all fishing though as a couple of days I accompanied Garry on his forays down to Auckland. He had chores to attend to and shopping to get done, they were both very successful trips however the traffic on the motorway left us both happy that we don’t have to deal with that very often.
Garry proved to be a very prolific fisherman reversing the scoring tally from previous years when Roy topped the score sheet, just as well Garry is the sharing kind otherwise our freezer would not be looking as full as it is. And I won’t embarrass Roy here with publishing the tally 😜.
We visited Gary & Marg at One Tree Point to catch up with them. Along the way to visit them I finally took the opportunity to take a photo of the speed signs on the way into Ruakaka.
Can you read the speed signs? which one shall we take notice of? How about now? Is that easier to read?
I don’t know what else I can say, except that this is not the only place along this road that many different speed signs occur.
Jim called in to visit on his way heading down the country and it was good to catch up with his news.
Roy and Jim
We seemed to have only the odd few hours, sometimes a day, without any rain and we really felt for the camp managers who were desperately trying to pump out all the water.
Top picture after the rain, bottom picture after pumping out water for a day.
After two weeks relaxing at Uretiti and with no let up in the rain forecast we decided it was time to leave. Hopefully summer will arrive shortly.
We say adieu, au revoir, see ya later Uretiti, we will be back.
I’ve had another birthday, actually it was a couple of weeks ago but I’m catching up on blogs, honestly, I am!! As well, I’m creeping ever closer to being able to become one of that elite group of people…..a pensioner. Now that will be something to celebrate.
It just so happens that our friend Mark shares his birthday with me, although I do have to mention that he is a decade older, this year he and Glynis were hosting a Xmas drinks and birthday celebration on their boat that they live aboard at Marsden Cove and we were invited to join in.
I offered to make a birthday cake for the two of us, well, I have to ensure that my new oven bakes cakes properly and what better way to test it out than with a cake. However, in my usual style I neglected to take a single photo of the said cake or of the celebrations but fortunately Glynis did so I gleaned the following photos from her.
Sitting upstairs enjoying food wine and good company before the rain came.Deep in conversationWe moved downstairs to the main cabin to escape the rain….the strange colour is as a result of the ever changing overhead coloured lights. Outside the main cabin was another covered seating area where people could relaxSinging happy birthday to each other!Mark portioning out the cake, and damned delicious it was too.
It was a lovely afternoon where we enjoyed meeting lots of new people, interesting conversations and of course good food to accompany the liquid refreshments.
As we left the afternoons festivities I did remember to take one picture, the reflections on the still waters in the Marina. Mark & Glynis’ boat Radiance is about half way down on the left or should that be port side!
Another full on and wonderful year, we are really looking forward to the next.
We were happily trundling along State Highway 1, just a few kms short of our next destination, Uretiti DOC camp, when …..BANG! or was it KABOOM? a large cloud of smoke accompanying the explosive noise from the front passenger side of the van, what on earth?
We quickly realised it was a blow out! Roy expertly brought the van to a steady halt whilst pulling off the road as best he could keeping the wheels as straight as possible. Wow, what a fright, with pulse rates racing and blood pressure rising, we went into “let’s get this sorted” mode. Hazard lights were immediately put on. The blowout occurred right on a bridge approach with the side barriers making it impossible to pull off the road completely making it very dangerous for traffic in both directions. as well as for us. At least it was a reasonably straight section of road so that oncoming traffic could see the obstacle (us) ahead.
We safely exited the van to see what damage had been done.
All the air escaped
Roy was quickly on his phone looking for a local tyre repair business when a traffic officer pulled in behind us. He had his red & blue lights flashing which gave a good alert to all the following traffic of the hazard ahead i.e. our van and car taking up most of a lane. What a relief to see him. We were just discussing what had happened with the policeman and formulating a plan for the next course of action when 2 road repair traffic trucks turned up, apparently they were just passing so stopped to see if they could assist. How fortuitous.
This is where is occurred.
Where it happened, Circled in yellow, and our destination is Uretiti which is where the SH1 marker is at the bottom right of the map.
By now, Roy had made contact with the local Bridgestone Tyre repair shop at the intersection of SH1 and the road to Marsden Point, they were on their way.
Meanwhile one traffic truck set up behind us with his large sign illuminated directing traffic to slow down and the other truck went on 500m further ahead of us warning traffic of the hazard ahead. The policeman set his vehicle up with his lights flashing on the other side of the bridge so traffic had good warning to slow down and we would all be safe. With traffic under control, we unhooked the car from behind the van and I was sent on ahead in the car to a large pull off area on the other side of the bridge to wait….if only the blowout had occurred 30m further on we could have been able to safely pull off the road.
When there’s an ooops! Traffic Police and Road Repair sign truck with a queue of traffic behind.
Ruakaka Bridgestone Tyres were with us within 10-15minutes, Roy used the hydraulic levelling jacks to lift up the van whilst the very capable young man removed the wrecked tyre and replaced it with the spare. We were back in driveable condition in under 30mins.
As soon as the tyre was on, Roy brought the van across the bridge to the safety of the gravel pit where we gratefully thanked all those helpful chaps. We couldn’t believe how fortunate we were to have them come along so quickly.
Safely across the bridge
Once everyone was thanked, we cautiously drove the short distance to Bridgestone Tyres, where they checked all the pressures and tightened up the wheel nuts. After a bit of discussion we decided that we wanted two new front tyres so that we would have a matching pair, the best and safest option.
The damaged tyre
The new tyres arrived the following morning and they were put on the van and all checked again.
We wonder if this blowout wasn’t as a result of all the roadworks that we have been through, it seems to be a continual stream of road works, road cones, and very very rough roads in the north, as it was the inside wall of the tyre that blew. Who knows? We’ve had a blowout previously but that has been on the rear wheels which are dual tyres so it’s still ok to drive on them and not quite as scary.
A huge thank you for the great service from all involved and the exceptionally friendly service from Bridgestone Tyres, Ruakaka. We thank our lucky stars that we had assistance so promptly.
Now to relax at Uretiti for a couple of weeks but is this the end of repairs and woes? Hmm, stay tuned for the next exciting instalment!!!
After finishing with appointments around Auckland we headed back to the van at Uretiti. Uretiti is a Department of Conservation run camp on the beach in Bream Bay just south of Whangarei.
It’s a lovely long beach that stretches 10kms from the Waipu River mouth in the south to the Ruakaka River mouth in the north.
It’s a long sandy beach and is popular to fish from with lots of people trying their luck via various methods of fishing, either with surf casting, torpedos or kites. The wind was favourable for us to try our luck with our kite on a couple of occasions. Somewhere out there is a little speck which is our kite.
We did have a little success and caught these three lovely snapper one afternoon.
Whilst at Uretiti we went into Maungaturoto one day for lunch with friends Jacky & Chris as we will be housesitting for them at Whakapirau in a couple of months time. We also managed to catch up with Mark & Glennis who have just bought a property in Ruakaka and caught up on all their news. After we had a week at Uretiti, we looked at the weather forecast which was not brilliant so we decided that we would head to Ruakaka just a few minutes down the road to the camp ground for a week and enjoy being connected to the grid for a change.
Here we are all set up nicely for the week.
The view from the bedroom window looking acrodd to Whangarei Heads.
The weather hasn’t been conducive for fishing so far but we did go for a look at the Marsden Point Oil Refinery information centre which is just 5minutes along the road. It was a very interesting place to visit with a huge model of the plant and video information about the construction and refinery process. We were told that the model of the plant took four people two years to build at a cost of around $1million and this was in the 1980’s! Goodness knows what it would cost today.There are information boards, audio visual material and models throughout the complex and is well worth a visit if you are in the area.
Our current plans are that we will stay at Ruakaka until Wednesday before heading back to Uretiti when hopefully the weather will have settled and the wind is off shore for some good fishing.
The Vanninis' Manoeuvres 