Tokerau – The Vanninis' Manoeuvres

Tokerau Beach

We are back! Yes, back at Tokerau Beach. It seems like an age since we were last here particularly as we frequented this area quite regularly in our early years on the road wether it be staying at Ramp Road, Maitai Bay, a local POP (park over property), with friends or latterly the NZMCA park. We elected this time to stay at the NZMCA park, there was hardly anyone else in the park, it was quiet and peaceful and it’s easy access to the beach.

Parked up with a view to the beach 100m away

View to the beach through the front windscreen

We were soon settled in and after a bite to eat and a cuppa we headed off for an explore. Garry hadn’t been out this way before so we took him on a tiki tour –Tiki tour means a look-around, drive or trip (and was originally derived from an old New Zealand tourist company of the same name).

We went first to the end of the peninsular and Maitai Bay (A on the map) which is a DOC run campground. With a Rahui (a shellfish gathering and fishing ban) in place for both Maitai and Waikato Bays, it didn’t warrant us staying out there. Next was a short drive over the other side of the peninsular to Karikari Beach (B) to the parking area which then requires a walk over the sand dunes for access to the beach. It was back into the car and down to Rangiputa (C) and Puheke/Puwheke (D) (spelling varies), and of course I didn’t take one photo on our tiki tour! From there it was out to Ramp Road (red dot), a freedom camping site administered by DOC, there were quite a few campers scattered throughout the sand dunes but finding a half decent level spot in the dunes would be very difficult we all agreed and access to the beach is difficult since storms chopped away at the banks making it a steep drop down to the beach.

We made our way back to the NZMCA park, yes, this will do us nicely for our stay in this region, we can easily drive onto the beach from here and choose a likely fishing spot anywhere along the 18km stretch of sand forming Doubtless Bay.

Tokerau beach is a long stretch of firm flat sand making it ideal for driving along, not at breakneck speed like some of the locals seem to do but at a more sedate pace, looking for a likely fishing spot.

Yes, there’s a good fishing spot along there somewhere!

Roy getting some sea water with lots of gulls looking for food

We collected tuatuas one afternoon, it didn’t take us long at all. We left the shellfish in a bucket of water overnight, this is to let them spit out any sand as we don’t really need to eat sandy fritters. We open the shellfish raw and then cook them afterwards. This method, rather than steaming the shellfish open, means the tuatuas are only cooked once, they tend to become chewy if you cook them twice. I made them all into delicious fritters for lunch the following day.

The water was surprisingly warm, which was fortunate when we went collecting tuatuas (shellfish).

Wednesday 13th March was our 42nd wedding anniversary, and just how did we spend the day? Well, first of all, Roy had broken a tooth and needed to have the sharp edges ground down so we had to find a dentist, not an easy task in this neck of the woods. However, we did find one who could accommodate him in Coopers Beach, not too far away at all. Whilst he was at the dentist, Garry and I went to the laundromat, I know, exciting stuff isn’t it? Roy was quickly back with us and with the washing done we were soon on our way back to camp. But we did have to have a stop at Cable Bay for a treat.

We may have had to stop at the Cable Bay store for an icecream.

Back at the park, the washing was hung out to dry, and what else was there to do? Yep, go fishing.

Yes, many fish were caught and we returned home to retrieve the washing from the line and tidy up before dinner. Fortunately I had made a large Bacon & Egg Pie in the morning ready for a quick and easy dinner to have with some salad.

More fishing was done over the next few days with the freezer filling rapidly. An epic trip further north will be the subject of the next blog entry as we managed to fit in a very full day of fishing, exploring and fun.

We all really enjoyed our week at Tokerau Beach, we did lots of fishing, lots of exploring but soon enough our time to move on was upon us.

A trip down memory lane

Sometimes you have to remind yourself that you have been out and about in the world before these crazy times ensued, especially right at this very moment when we are stuck in limbo. I thought that I would have a look back over the past few years to see what we were doing and where we were in mid October each year.

2009: living at Pen-y-Bryn in Oamaru,

The Lodge, Roy and I looking a bit more youthful than now! Photos of the lodge courtesy James & James, Pen-y-Bryn Lodge.

2010: travelling through Europe in a motorhome, Germany visiting the Neuschwanstein Castle heading into the Black Forest, then the epic trip around Italy with Alex accompanying us.

2011: Exploring Fiordland and the southern lakes region from Mavora Lakes to Milford Sound, ironing out all the modifications we made to the bus.

2012: exploring the top of the South Island, Golden Bay, Nelson before crossing Cook Strait to the North Island

2013: Cape Reinga, Spirits Bay, Rarawa, Matai Bay with Pat & Sue.

2014: Kaitaia, Matai Bay, Rarawa meeting up at various times with Jim & Judy, Brian & Marj, Reg & Rima and many others. I see a pattern developing here.

All parked up at Matai Bay and Roy & Brian putting on the roof rack

Alex and Ian came to visit from the UK

2015: Melbourne, Uretiti, Matai Bay with Pat & Sue.

The Melbourne trip was as a result of a win I had in a competition, we met up with Roys sister Karel there and had a great time before returning to the sunny north.

Pat & Sue parked in a line with us at Matai Bay with the odd treat on the menu

2016: Rarawa Beach, 90 mile beach with Pat & Sue. Fishing with Gary & Marg at Tokerau Beach

2017: London, Belgium, Canary Islands. Meeting Ian’s family in the UK, attending the Paschendaele centenary celebrations in Belgium, holidaying in the Canary Island and meeting family.

Canary Island camel ride, meeting cousin Pauline & Pat in Lanzarote and meeting the Denny’s at dinner in London.

2018: Tokerau Beach, Rarawa

2019: London, Auckland, Uretiti,

Returning from the UK after the birth of grandson Callum spending some time around Auckland before heading north once more.

2020: Rarawa. An epic few weeks in the north meeting Garry and catching lots of fish.

2021: Bay of Plenty, waiting for Covid restrictions to lift to be able to get through Auckland…now with new measures and vaccination targets to reach it is looking unlikely we will get north this year….grrrr.

The overriding theme that comes through as we look back through the brief selection of events and photos, is not just the variety of places we’ve visited but more importantly it is the people that have either come along for the ride, the new friends we’ve made, long lasting friends we’ve met up with, or extended family members we’ve spent time with that have made all these places so memorable. Thank you all for the great memories and here’s looking forward to making many more.

Fridge woes

It was blowing a gale, with horrendous horizontal rain….halfway through the day I could hear that the fridge was click click clicking away as though it was trying to ignite without success however all lights showing on the face of the fridge said that it was still going ok. In a brief respite from the weather we checked the back of the fridge (accessed from the outside) and it seemed that the flame was going ok but the starter thingy whatsit (that is it’s correct techie name) just kept on going and wasn’t detecting that the flame was actually present.

The outside vent and access to the rear of the fridge

Our fridge is a three way fridge, gas, 240v power or 12v, however we have had the 12v capability removed as it uses far too much power and would kill our batteries, therefore the fridge will only go on gas or 240v power. And as we very rarely, if ever, plug into power, it runs mainly on LPG gas. We presumed that the clicking noise something to do with the fact that the wind was directly blowing into the vent and rain was coming in horizontally on that side of the bus, possibly extinguishing the flame.

Fast forward to the following day which dawned bright, clear, sunny and no wind, however we discovered that the locker under the fridge vent was water logged so the rain was really coming in that direction with great force. Roy tried all the usual things to try and fix the fridge, he cleaned everything, blasted it with compressed air etc etc, until he determined that the control box starter thingy (another techie name) was faulty. He was sure he actually had a spare one but couldn’t remember where he had put it…..so, all the lockers got emptied, boxes opened and searched, he went through everything and couldn’t find it so he presumed he had carefully filed it at Antony’s for safe keeping.

Meanwhile we switched the fridge over to power and thought we would run it off the inverter and batteries during the day. We were already at 100% full by the time we thought of that option and with the inverter on, the control said we were consistently putting in 1 or 2 amps all day which made us think perhaps it wasn’t working properly on power.

Fast forward again to the afternoon, Roy went off for a nana nap, I decided to dry out and clean out the locker that had got wet which contains lots of containers with all those handy things like nuts, bolts, screws, fuses, wires, electrical connectors, and lots and lots of essential tools and bits, all neatly stacked in labelled containers. In tidying everything up before putting it all back neatly…..I opened one of the “miscellaneous” boxes and guess what I found? Yep, the little green box thingy all carefully wrapped up in bubble wrap!!! Once Roy woke up, he replaced the starter in the fridge workings and off it went perfectly on gas. Phew!

But just to check, that evening we switched the inverter on, set the fridge over to 240v power and guess what? It uses around 27amps….amazing, so the system works really well during sunny days that means our power system is well setup and works extremely well.

We figure that for over the summer months, we shall run the fridge on power during the day and gas overnight, and see how it goes especially whilst we are at Shakespear, hopefully it will reduce our gas consumption considerably.

The fridge workings exposed, with new drainage hose attached and new ignitor in place

PS to the tale of the fridge, we thought initially that the wet locker was from the rain, but no, on inspection the drain hose at the back of the fridge to the outside (that white crinkly concertina pipe stuff) had completely broken down and shattered into tiny pieces with the water now dripping down into the locker below.

Some years ago we had replaced large section of the hose but the last remaining 6inches of pipe at the fridge end had deteriorated so we needed another hose to connect directly with the fridge outlet. The replacement piece we had on there just wasn’t doing it as it was very stiff and I couldn’t bend it enough to directly connect it to the back of the fridge. You must realise that I am trying to do this from the outside (the back of the fridge) through a narrow gap which can only be reached if I stand on a step, angle myself into all sorts of twisted positions to feel my way past all the other pipes and wires…..so, thinking cap on. What can we use for a better drain pipe of the correct dimensions…..light bulb moment, the clear flexible hose from one of the solar showers fitted perfectly and was pliable enough to squeeze directly onto the outlet pipe at the back of the fridge. Voila, it works perfectly.

The woes of RV fridges!!!

Kaitaia to Karikari Peninsular

Kaitaia was our first destination after leaving Rarawa, it’s only about a 50minute drive past all the newly planted market gardens and avocado orchards. Every year the plantings seem to expand further and further over the rolling hills.

Row upon row of what we think was either squash, pumpkins or zucchini’s

Rows of avocado trees as far as you can see

Kaitaia was always going to be a one night stopover for a fuel up, dump the waste, get the laundry done, a bit of retail therapy and the grocery shopping done. We did manage to catch up with some extended family members which was lovely. As we arrived at the RSA car park, there was just one other bus parked in the car park, it was none other than Jim. He was heading out to Ramp Road on the Karikari Peninsular the following day and we were heading for the NZMCA park at Tokerau Beach.

After all the chores were done, it was a smooth run out to the beach the following day where for the next week or so we enjoyed our time in the relative peace and quiet. We went for a drive to check out Matai Bay as we have not stayed here for a couple of years, the gravel road is in urgent need of a grading so we decided to stay put at Tokerau Beach .

It’s interesting being parked up at the NZMCA park, watching others come and go but also how people choose a spot to park. We parked ourselves on a boundary fence away from everyone else, and although it was very quiet with a maximum of 5 or 6 others in at a time, it seems as though we are some sort of magnet for others to gravitate toward.

View from the door, before we were surrounded!

The park is a large park with plenty of places to park well away from other people. One day three vehicles came in within an hour of each other, all three of them choosing to park on either side of us. It wouldn’t have been so bad if there was nowhere else to park then I could understand them gravitating toward us. But when the ones that parked either side of us have dogs as well…..I don’t know, what is it with people assuming that I love their yap dogs as much as they do? The dogs are supposed to be on a lead at all times, and technically they were, it’s just that the leads were not attached to anything at the other end so the dogs ran around dragging their leads behind them! Rant over.

The weather has been mainly fine although we did have a terrific wind and rain storm one day, the results of which will be in the next blog post.

And we’ve refrained from fishing, we have more than enough to keep us going for quite some time however we were happy to accept this offering from a lovely young couple.

We met up with a couple of other friends whilst here and it was great to see Pat & Steve and catch up with them, we also went and had drinks one afternoon at Brett & Bronwyn’s POP just down the road and we also took a ride around to Ramp Road to see Jim.

Soon it was time for us to continue our slow trek back to reality and leave this glorious part of New Zealand behind.

Moving on

All good things must come to an end as it was time to leave Rarawa; the lovely beach, the fishing, the relaxation….but needs must.

Leaving the white silica sands of Rarawa Beach, until next year!

Before we left and went our separate ways we all had a final brunch together in the glorious morning sun.

L-R: Keith, Deb, Roy, Bernice, Glen with Carol taking the photo

Sign at the entrance

It was actually an easy exit but as we have a long wheel base it’s always best to check. Safely hooked up we ventured into Kaitaia to dump the tanks, fill with gas and water before spending the night at the RSA. The next morning we were off again, we weren’t going too far though, just to the NZMCA park at a Tokerau beach for a couple of days. Glen & Carol were heading off to Matai Bay for a couple of weeks whereas we are now slowly working our way back down to Shakespear for our summer stint there.

And of course whilst at Tokerau, we just had to have a last fish, some good snapper were caught and as well Roy caught a good sized Kahawai to add to his varied species collection.

Roy with his Kahawai

This was smoked and became a lovely smoked fish pie for us to share.

We had just a few days at Tokerau Beach, visiting friends and generally catching our breath. We visited Jim at Ramp Road which is not too far away, and a very popular spot these days. We have stayed there in the past but these days prefer other options.

We were soon underway again after a few days, this time just as far as Kerikeri. We had planned to be at Kerikeri for a Saturday morning so we could all visit the very good market that is on every week. Our favourite German bread maker is there (hi Peter) and we love trying out new things that always seem to be on offer at the market.

Roy also managed to catch up with his cousin Stuart whilst we were in Kerikeri and we generally added to the locally economy through one thing or another, as we usually do. Soon it was time to farewell Kerikeri and head further south, the weather is glorious, summer is definitely on its way.

Tokerau Beach

(Still in catch up mode….).

We finally left Uretiti heading towards Kerikeri and the NZMCA parking site for a couple of nights to hunker down, out of the way of an impending storm that was forecast.

Apparently we missed most of the storm but we heard from others who were still at Uretiti that they suffered 100km/hr winds and terrible driving rain, and it wasn’t very pleasant at all but much better than the snow, wind and rain that we saw the rest of the country was suffering. Spring weather at its finest showing its true self.

The ground at Kerikeri was very very boggy with most of the site cordoned off and reduced to a small area that had scoria laid down, even then we sank into the ground a bit. We can report that we had no leaks through our roof so we can presume that it had been well and truly fixed.

Roy also got a chance to have a catch-up with his cousin Stuart to discuss genealogical matters and other projects going on in their respective lives. As well, we lined the pockets of a number of establishments in and around Kerikeri stocking up the larders, getting a few maintenance matters sorted, buying wool for this grandma to knit up, and some of the touring party apparently visited the chocolate shop (I resisted 😇), as well as numerous other sundry items were purchased.

After a couple of nights ‘enjoying’ the very wet ground at Kerikeri, we were soon on our way again heading further north, this time to Tokerau Beach, and the NZMCA parking area.

It wasn’t long before the blokes decided it was time to have a fish, and for Roy to perfect his method of launching his baits and line with Keith’s drone.

Glen launching his drone next to Keith’s

Now for some reason I did not take many pictures of the fish caught, but suffice to say over the four or five days, quite a number of fish were caught, processed, eaten and many vacuum packed and frozen.

A good start

Roy was gaining a bit of a reputation of catching the largest fish each time they went out, and he was not allowed to forget it either!!

A couple of trips into Kaitaia for laundry and shopping were done whilst we were here. My vacuum sealer finally gave out after many years of good use (it would vacuum but not seal) so a trip into the shops to buy a new one was in order.

The freezer is getting nicely full of fish for us to enjoy over the summer months when we are parked up camp hosting at Shakespear. As well, lots of fish is being eaten, from whole fish, to fillets cooked every which way, to curries and the like.

We have our favourite dishes that we regularly come back to, after trying many many recipes. Sometimes the simplest is the best especially for such fresh fish.

Deb had a birthday whilst we were here, Keith cooked dinner of crumbed Weiner Schnitzel with a cauliflower mash, salads and veg which was all very good and I made a dessert of lime pannacotta with citrus salad and passionfruit.

We do eat very well.

Time to leave here and head further north whilst the weather is reasonable, again we are picking our days to travel as with another bit of windy weather due, we make the most of calmer days.

Never a dull moment

The fishing was going great guns, every time the blokes went out they came home with lots of fish so we were eating it, giving it away and freezing some. Just as well as both couples were heading away for a couple of days, us a quick trip to Auckland for medical appointments and Keith & Debbie were off to Tauranga the day after we left for a family matter.

But not before a last minute fish off Tokerau Beach.

Keith with control in hand ready to send the drone out with the baits and longline.

We have lift off.

Wait for 45 minutes then press the button on the reel to bring in the line….

Enough fish to share around with family and friends.

We were very fortunate as we were going to break our journey to Auckland by staying with Jacky & Chris at Whakapirau as it is a non stop 5 1/2 hour drive from Tokerau to Auckland, and who does that sort of distance without a couple of stops at least? It’s 3 1/2 hrs to Whakapirau, but add another hour on to that for stops, road works and the like so it’s still a decent drive.

Roy had a checkup with the Urologist, the upshot being he is having some surgery to clean up the prostate on Monday 8th October. He will be in Ascot Hospital overnight or possibly two nights. Meanwhile I had my 3month checkup with my surgeon, and we made a date for knee surgery, 19th November it is scheduled for the first knee replacement, a great birthday present to myself!!

After another great stay with Jacky and Chris on our return journey home, we headed home Wednesday morning, calling in to the Jewellers in Whangarei to pick up my repaired rings and necklace.

my rings, all beautifully repaired and polished, and now all joined together so that they don’t rub against each other.

I also had my necklace repaired with a new chain put on,

This necklace is one that Roy gave to me for my 21st birthday, just a couple of years ago!

Back at the van on Thursday I received a call from my surgeon, on reviewing the latest X-ray of my hip, they’ve noticed an anomaly on the trochanter (top of the femur) which doesn’t look quite right and could I go back for an MRI scan to further investigate things? Oh no, what could it possibly be? Stress fractures possibly, but they will see once they do the scan. No wonder I still have pain!! I’ve scheduled the MRI and consult for the 9th October so we shall have to wait and see what eventuates. Bugger!

Never mind, we can hopefully get another week of fishing in, whip down to Auckland in the car for a couple of days and get everything over had done with and still be on track for knee surgery in November. Fingers crossed.

The things we do

Gary & Marg had sold their caravan whilst we were staying with them, however an earlier mishap meant that a new awning had to be put on the caravan before the new owners collected it. So how many people does it take to put on an awning? ….I’ll let you see for yourselves.

Luckily Keith & Debbie had arrived earlier in the day so it was all hands on deck, however the author of this blog post was told she was a little vertically challenged to be of any real assistance, the cheek of it!!! And yes, Roy’s shorts were falling down in the above picture, it got worse a little later!!

showing off the undies and builders crack!

It was a very successful effort and the awning was put in place, tested and they all stood back to admire their handiwork.

The neighbour had been out fishing and gave us some fish, some trevalli which became marinated fish and some kingfish steaks which Marg made for our dinner with a lemon caper butter sauce, it was delicious.

Not to be outdone, we are starting to get our fishing mojo back again with some good catches made. Keith had had his drone out a few times and is bringing in fish every time, including these beauties.

Another late afternoons haul

Around and about with an adventure.

We somehow manage to fill each day keeping ourselves very busy, but ask me what are we busy with, and I would be hard pressed to tell you exactly what we get up to! We are still at Gary & Margs place at Tokerau Beach, fishing, eating, talking and keeping ourselves out of mischief, well sort of.

Sue & Dave from Oamaru called in to see us during the week on their holiday to check out the north. We haven’t seen them since we left Oamaru so it was lovely to catch up with all the comings and goings in the town. And again I was too busy talking to remember to take any photos.

Another day we did go for a bit of a tiki tour up to Houhora to get some nice avocados, and at $2 a bag, they are a steal. It was a glorious day.

fishermen retrieving their boats and catches on the outgoing tide.

We decided to treat ourselves to a fish & chip lunch, sitting in the sun, watching the world go by…

Gus (dog) also enjoyed his day at the beach. What’s not to like about it?

We started to head home, but oh no, what’s this? The car is boiling over…

parked on the side of the road waiting for things to cool down.

It was then a very slow trip back to Kaitaia with hazard lights flashing, if we kept below 50km/hr the temperature gauge stayed fairly static and we could make it back safely.

At the garage….Gary showing Roy where the problem lies. I am sure that the garage mechanics will sort it out fellas!

We had to get a ride back out to Tokerau Beach with family who very kindly came to our rescue. And yes, we did get a good supply of avocados after all that. They will go very nicely with fish!

fish, now that is another story, we have been out fishing a couple of times with our kite but without great success. However what’s not to like about being on the beach in this sort of weather.

That’s Roy and Gary gathering a few tuatuas.

Roy and Gary have been out with Gary’s torpedo a couple of times, but the torpedo did have some issues. First it kept going left, which really means it would go around in circles, so off to the repair man it went to be fixed. Once it was returned Gary repaired and replaced all the sealant. That done it was out for a fish, but what’s this? Oh no, the torpedo is slowly getting lower and lower in the water the further out it goes before disappearing altogether and becoming a submarine….hmmm, apparently that new sealant doesn’t like salt water, ooops! They managed to drag the torpedo back to shore where it is now undergoing another repair but this time with the correct sealant.

Meanwhile we wait for the winds to come back so we can get out with the kites again. At least the temperatures are lovely and mild with the shorts and t shirts getting an airing and the sunscreen making an appearance. Summer is on its way.

A week at the beach

It’s hard to believe we have been here at Tokerau Beach for a week now and we have done very little but relax and hang out with Gary & Marg.

And can you blame us? This is the view from the deck

Just a short meander down to the beach, although today is really the first day in a while that we have not had terribly strong winds which has meant that kite fishing has definitely not been on the agenda.

If we did put the kite out I am sure that we would have been dragged off the beach and surfed across to South America before stopping! But Gary and Roy did venture out with the torpedo for a fish off the beach and came back with gurnard, kahawai and a couple of good sized snapper. Of course I forgot to take any pictures until Gary was in the middle of filleting the last of the fish.

Delicious fish for dinner for the next couple of nights and even a few fillets for our freezer.

The wind has settled today so hopefully we may just be able to get our new kite out in the next day or two.

We have been catching up with a few chores and as well I have been knitting up a storm, knitting market bags to replace the plastic bags that are the scourge of the planet. I knitted up a whole heap of these about 12 years ago ( I was always a bit before my time!!) but I have now been trying a few different patterns to varying success.

I knit them out of a bamboo/cotton yarn which is pretty much weightless, they scrunch up to take up very little space in your handbag and are very strong. I prefer the original pattern I made years ago (the red one on the right in the above picture), which I have subsequently modified to have two handles which makes for easier loading/unloading and carrying. Anyway, they don’t take very long to knit up, they have interesting stitches and they are practical and make nice presents. Guess what will be given away as presents this Christmas?