Arriving at Uretiti is somewhat akin to coming home for us it seems. We arrived in good time after leaving Kerikeri and once we arrived at the camp we got our frozens taken care of by the kind hosts which means we can relax a little and survive via chilly bin for a few days until the fridge gets delivered.
You will have to read the previous post for all about the fridge and it’s installation which seemed to have consumed our lives for the better part of a week.
After all the fridge work was done, there was a day of rest and recovery, besides, the weather wasn’t great so it was a good day to relax and watch a movie. The next day (Thursday), the fellas went out fishing for the morning whilst I had a good spring autumn clean up, they did return with fish as well which was great. Garry was leaving us that afternoon as he had family arriving for the weekend. It was also the start of the influx of campers arriving for Easter weekend.
Over the next day or so, the camp filled up with people, I don’t think we have ever been here when it has been so busy and I must admit that I don’t really enjoy being surrounded so many people, crowds have never really been my thing.
Good Friday and we were off to One Tree Point to visit Gary & Marg for lunch. It’s always a good catch up with these two and we always have a good laugh regaling tales. Of course narry a photo was taken.
Friday night we had a bit of a shock to our system, the temperature plummeted down to 8 overnight, it was a little chilly and we are not ready for cooler temperatures yet! At least the day afterwards is a clear blue sky day and it quickly warms up into the mid 20’s.
Saturday was spent doing a few chores that we’ve been meaning to do for ages plus pack up ready to leave Easter Sunday. We are heading back toward Auckland for the next few weeks until we fly out to England. We are also taking full advantage of the Brynderwyn’s being open for the Easter weekend and we chose to travel on Easter Sunday when we guessed the traffic heading south won’t be too heavy and before it closes again on Tuesday for them to complete the major roading repairs.
The Brynderwyn’s are a range of hills that form a natural boundary between Northland and the rest of NZ, we always feel that going over the twisty road to the top of the hills is like driving over a country border as when you reach the top and see over Bream Bay to Whangarei Heads you feel like you are in another country.
There was a steady stream of traffic heading north along the Highway, and it wasn’t long before the sign indicating that the road was open welcomed us.
Sign indicating that the road is openThe southbound lanes are blocked off with major repairs to the washed out road being undertaken.Major earthworks and millions of tonnes of earth have been removed already.Lots of earthworks still to be completed.
The rest of the trip went by very quickly and we were soon parked up at Peter & Wendy’s. Oh it’s so nice to be here in peace and quiet, the birdsong is very noticeable and joyful to hear. We are here for the next few days until the weekend and after that the van will be staying here as we are off housesitting for a couple of weeks, somewhere which is a new housesitting stint for us, we are looking forward to it.
The van had been booked in at Kaitaia Tractors to get a change of transmission fluid. We had topped the fluid up ourselves whilst at Tauranga Bay but Garry pointed out that it probably needed a complete change. It’s handy having someone who knows about such things, he could tell by the smell of the fluid on the dipstick that it needed changing – who knew to take a sniff at the dipstick? Speaking of dipstick, the ones in the van are incredibly long…as in around 5 ft long!
We were due at the workshop first thing Monday morning so we headed into Kaitaia on Sunday to get a few chores done; laundry, shopping, dumping, getting fuel etc but we also has another pressing chore to attend to. The fridge wasn’t working, in fact it had well and truly died. How did we know for sure? From the very strong ammonia smell that happened on our way into Kaitaia. We knew straight away what was the problem so the fridge was immediately switched off and windows opened. We need to get it removed as soon as possible for safety reasons. But we have a freezer full of fish as well as other delights. What are we to do?
We were spending the night at the RSA and on booking in there and chatting with the bar staff, they very kindly offered to put out freezer contents into their large chiller. Brilliant, what a very kind offer. With that dilemma sorted, after delivering the van to the workshop on Monday morning we headed back into town to try and a) find someone to cap off the gas and remove the fridge b) find a replacement.
We knew we didn’t want another 3 way fridge, that is running off gas/12v/240v, we wanted a straight domestic 240v fridge. Initially we thought we also needed to have installed another solar panel dedicated to the fridge with its own battery, inverter and controller however that was proving impossible to find someone to do all of that. I made contact with Wayne Hunt from Motorhome Solar, as he did all our upgrades of our solar system a few years ago, yes he said, we can comfortably run an inverter compressor fridge on our system very easily, the brands to go for are Samsung or LG, he tells us. Great, now I know what to look for I can do some research. But what brilliant service from Wayne, his continued customer service is outstanding and we can highly recommend his company for good, honest, reliable service.
The other factor was the cost, approximately $3800 for a new 3 way fridge plus fitting including the services of a gas fitter versus $850 for a digital inverter fridge which we could fit ourselves (with help). A no brainer really. With the type of fridge sorted, the immediate priority was to find a gas fitter to remove the old fridge. Again, our fingers did the walking and we found a gas fitter in Kaitaia who could come first thing Tuesday morning and cap off the gas. Valentino from North Flow turned up as promised, on time, checked out our gas system, disconnected everything and then proceeded to get the fridge out of the van.
Valentino and Roy trying to remove the fridge.Getting the old fridge onto the trailer, Valentino offered to take it to the rubbish tip for us, how kind is that?
With specifications in hand we let our fingers do the walking, actually we got Mr Google to help us to find the right fridge. We are limited on size of a new fridge as it has to fit in the recess we have, not such an easy task it seems as fridges are rather large these days. After an exhaustive afternoon spent googling, going to visit shops, suppliers and phoning all over Northland trying to find the right one, mostly being told that they are unavailable, or I have to wait 2-3 weeks, with one place telling me it was a 6 week wait, I finally found a very helpful man in Whangarei at Barrell’s 100% Extreme Store. He went out of his way to be helpful, checking on stock, checking other stores before going straight to the manufacturer. He could get one delivered to us by the end of the week, he told me, brilliant, he even gave a bit of a discount too.
We have to say that the people of Kaitaia were extremely helpful and friendly, from the many businesses we made enquiries with, to staff at the RSA, the café we frequented (Manaaki on 25), where the staff and food were fantastic, we cannot fault the locals from being exceptionally helpful and friendly.
Going without a fridge for a week is going to be a challenge, as well, we needed to keep those frozens frozen for a day or two. Next purchase, a chilly bin and salt ice. The bin was packed with the ice and the frozens carefully placed inside with the the lid closed and taped down, everything should remain frozen until out next destination.
Chilly bin fridge!
We had a one night stop in Kerikeri before continuing on to Uretiti DOC camp where I knew that the managers Steve & Adrien would allow us to put our frozens into their freezer. We just had to wait a few days for the fridge to be delivered, and as promised I had a phone call to say they could deliver it to us on Saturday morning.
Fridge has arrived and is going well running off our solar array.
Sunday afternoon Garry arrived to help us with fitting the fridge into the recess. Some adjustments had to be made because the new fridge is taller than the old one, plus it has to be secured in place. Child proof locks were also purchased to secure the doors so they don’t accidentally swing open whilst we are on the move.
Oh look at all those wires. Remnants of the original American wiring plus new wiring. It was all tested, what could be removed was removed, the rest tidied up and carefully stashed. New wall linings were installed to complete the tidy up.
Of course it did not all go to plan, and new plans were constantly evolving. By the end of Monday we had the fridge in situ but not secured, as the final problem had to be overcome.
The fridge levelling feet at the front of the fridge were the problem and with no wriggle room left at the top we had to come up with another plan. The biggest issue was the left hand foot was under the base of the fridge but the right hand foot was under the hinge of the door, the door sits outside the cabinetry. After a good nights sleep with many ideas running through everyone’s heads, Garry came up with the perfect solution, we needed a piece of angle iron cut to length for the width of the fridge, this could be mounted flush with the base of the fridge with a long bolt threaded through the angle iron into position with locking nuts to effectively become the adjustable foot, as an added bonus it meant that the fridge would be bolted to the floor securely.
Looking through the vent hole and doorway, yes that is the fridge inside the door.It looked like a building site outside.
A trip into Whangarei was required where we found a very helpful engineering company who had exactly the angle iron that we wanted plus they cut it to length and rounded off the edges. Perfect. Bolts were sourced and purchased and back we went to Uretiti. Holes were drilled, I painted the angle iron with rust proofing paint and once the paint dried it was all put into place. However, one of the bolts for the feet was too short to go through all the wood, so I had to go back into Whangarei to buy one more bolt. I was back by 5:30pm, bolt put in, angle brackets had already been secured to the back of the fridge and side bracing put in. It was all done. Woop woop.
We can’t thank Garry enough for all his help and able assistance, and it’s been a bit of a mammoth task as of course not everything went to plan.
Getting there, the final adjustments being made, Garry on the floor and Roy holding the fridge in place. Voilà, new fridge in situ, bolted down in every way possible. The old fridge was probably only as tall as the underside of the energyrating sticker, I now have much more usable fridge & freezer space.
We’ve now had the fridge running for a week or more and energy wise it is very very efficient, we get down to anything between 85% to 87% full overnight so we are thrilled with its performance. It is certainly going to save us some LPG usage with it paying for itself over a very short period of time. As well, it has ice making capabilities which has a certain member of the touring party delighted, lots of ice for his rum!!
Over the weekend the camp filled with lots and lots of weekend campers, it became very busy and noisy. One of the weekend campers came to say hello. It was Michael, one of the Auckland Council Rangers whom we met for the first time when he was a summer Ranger at Shakespear 10 years ago and coincidentally it was our first year as camp hosts. We got to know him quite well over the subsequent years as he worked at some of the other northern regional parks. And we also met up with him in Spain a few years later.
Top: Roy & Michael in Huelva, Spain in 2017 and below at Uretiti 2024. Both Roy and Michael tell me that they still have the tops that they were wearing way back in 2017 and if I’d given them notice they could have put them on for a matching photo 😂
It was lovely to meet up again and catch up with all his news. Once the weekend campers left, peace and tranquility reigned once more.
Monday morning and I was heading to Auckland for the day with Garry as he had lots of jobs to tick off his list and I could keep him company. It ended up being a full on day of running errands, meeting people, buying bits and pieces and getting lots done. We left camp at 9am and didn’t get back until after 7pm so it really was a full on day but we got everything done. We didn’t get a break to have our lunch until 4pm as it was busy getting from one side of Auckland to the other – we won’t mention the traffic! Meanwhile Roy had a morning in Whangarei getting a few things sorted before heading back to camp for a quiet afternoon.
Tuesday we met up with Gary & Marg in Waipu Cove for lunch. Gary was having a birthday so it was good timing for us all to help him celebrate. Just as well we booked a table as it was really busy with not a table spare, it really is a very vibrant place with great food and very attentive staff too.
L-R: Bernice, Roy, Gary, Garry and Marg
Yes, it is a little confusing with the two Gar(r)y’s, but we get there!! It was mentioned in passing within earshot of staff that Gary was celebrating a birthday and the staff surprised him by delivering his dessert complete with candle and they all came along singing Happy Birthday.
Gary conducting us all singingToilet signsLooking along the beach from Waipu Cove…Uretiti is along there in the distance somewhere
It was a very long and relaxed lunch with lots and lots of talking and laughing, the afternoon slipped away quickly before we headed back to camp and a final fish before we head off tomorrow. And yes, a number of fish were harmed in the late afternoons fishing exercise. And no, we didn’t need anything for dinner as we were all still full from lunch!!
We moved the huge distance of around 500metres to the Self Contained Parking area leaving the school to have the camp ground to themselves. We had a couple of jobs to do before we left Auckland and this was the perfect place to base ourselves. I had to make a quick trip down to Manukau to meet up with Antony and exchange parcels. I called in on Carol & Glen on the way home for a quick coffee before I was back on my way. I got back to find that Garry had called in for a visit, this time on his motorbike.
Garry’s bike
The next morning the Rangers came to say goodbye and it was then time to pack up and leave. Our first stop was at PaknSave in Silverdale for fuel for the van, and good timing it was too as they were having a one day special on fuel with 20c a litre off. Then it was out to Dairy Flat to fill up with LPG before hitting the motorway north.
We were wanting to head north before State Highway One was closed off at the Brynderwyn’s for the next 9 weeks, as the detour for us adds quite a distance as well as time as the route we would have to take would be via Dargaville due to the weight and size of our vehicles. We plan to return via the west coast on our return journey.
Suggested routes
As we reach the top of the Brynderwyn’s and get our first glimpse of Bream Bay ahead of us, is always very much anticipated and welcomed.
Over the hill with Bream Bay in the distance.
We arrived at Uretiti DOC camp and were warmly welcomed by Steve, Garry wasn’t far behind us and it didn’t take too long to get ourselves settled in.
Happily parked up
Quick walk to the beach is always on the cards ones we are set up.
Path to the beachSand built up at the beach end of the track, with the top of the post and wires disappearing under the built up sand.
It wasn’t long before Garry & Roy were on the beach having a fish. Yes, fresh fish was on the menu that night, and the next night.
On the beach with the lines out.
It’s nice to be back in the north, we look forward to relaxing, fishing and exploring over the coming weeks.
Just as well we did the shopping on Saturday as later that evening Marilyn rang to say that she & David were heading our way and would we like to meet up. Now, we met David & Marilyn on their narrowboat in the UK just over 4 years ago, you can catch up with that adventure starting here, as well as in NZ. They arrived in the rain at Uretiti in the late afternoon, quickly got themselves sorted and parked up before joining us for a cuppa and then staying on for dinner.
All settled in and parked up
David & Marilyn are vegetarian, however we won’t hold that against them. I had made a leek and asparagus quiche, focaccia bread with cherry tomatoes and balsamic, and a chickpea salad with a peanut & miso dressing (a Yottam Ottolenghi recipe) all of which went down very well with enough left over for Marilyn to have the following evening whilst David joined us in having snapper.
Peanut Butter and Miso chickpea salad (photo borrowed from Ottolenghi’s website, as per usual I forgot to take any photos)
I did the tried and true snapper with tomato, orange and avocado salad as it always goes down a treat with everyone who tries it and I’m assured that David enjoyed it.
Dinner
Meanwhile, one of our light strips wasn’t working which led Roy tracking the wiring through the various cupboards which then led onto an investigative adventure to find out the source of the problem. Of course this resulted in opening up of multiple cupboards which meant a mass explosion of contents to a raft of “why do we have this?” and “do we need this?” type of questions.
Man at workCables and wires everywhere.
The issue wasn’t resolved, however a plan B was instigated which will suffice until another day. It did also make us ask the question “why do we still have a TV?” The one in the above photo plus it’s mate in the bedroom haven’t been switched on for at least 4 or 5 years as we both watch what we prefer on our devices by streaming. Roy bluetooths the sound to his hearing aids and I used headphones to listen whilst watching want we want when we want, we also use them to listen to podcasts and I listen to audiobooks. And I’m sure our neighbours are pleased they don’t have to listen to a TV being played at full volume.
But no TV watching on this occasion, we were introduced to a new old game called Crosshand Poker. It’s sort of a combination of poker and scrabble, with poker hands being the play but joining onto other play. It’s a great game which we enjoyed, so much so I managed to find a set online and purchased it.
Intense concentration
A few days later Marilyn & David continued on their travels around the Far North with lots of information and instructions under their belts. But did they heed any of the advice? Apparently information was accepted but not necessarily absorbed which resulted in a few extra kilometres travelled over some narrow windy roads. They do say that it’s the journey not the destination that is important, but a tired and weary Marilyn may not quite agree 😜.
I behaved myself, I promise! Yes, I was home alone for a couple of nights whilst Roy headed to Auckland for a funeral and to catch up with all three sons, Simon, Jason and Antony. It just so happened that the day after the funeral there was a function scheduled for a group of Roys old mates from his IBM working days. An opportunity not to be missed so he stayed on in Auckland for that.
Meanwhile, I was trying my very best to be on good behaviour whilst he was gone, Garry was here at Uretiti to lead me astray. We didn’t get up to much really, just a couple of trips into Whangarei to pick up bits and pieces for his new caravan. There was no fishing done as the weather wasn’t the best with light rain falling both days and it had also become quite chilly….I’m a fair weather fisherperson!
Meanwhile I did manage to organise and book our flights to the UK next year, always good to get that done and sorted…only 175 days to go apparently! And something to look forward to and plan what we want to do whilst we are over in that part of the world.
Itinerary all booked and confirmed. We can highly recommend Sarah, our travel consultant, she has organised our trips for the past 6 years as well as Antony’s (he’s going next month), nothing is a bother and she always comes up with great deals.
Garry left, Roy returned, I bet that made heads turn and tongues wag! Haha. We got on with life in general and did the usual chores ie. washing, tidying etc before heading out on Friday night for dinner with Bruce & Heather. Bruce used to work for IBM, they now live in Mangawhai and it was a great opportunity to meet up. We went to Cove Cafe in Waipu Cove for dinner, and it was a great meal. We will definitely be going there again. They have other a few other cafés in the region including Dune in Mangawhai and Quay in Whangarei, all to the same high standard.
We managed to solve the problems of the world and in particular NZ creating lots of conversation and banter.
Of course you will notice a dearth of photos yet again in this blog, I just get so involved with actually talking to people face to face I forget that I have a phone with me to take photos!!!
Roy had an appointment in Whangarei on Saturday morning so we went off to that as well as getting the grocery shopping done and a few other chores which were all managed in between rain showers. Then back to Uretiti for a few more days of R&R.
It’s nearly time to move on and think about eventually heading to Shakespear for the Summer. Let’s hope that this year we get summer!!!
Where does the time disappear? All of a sudden another week has gone and sometimes I’m not sure what we have done but somehow another weekend rolls around.
After getting the car back from the garage I headed over to Whakapirau to spend the day with Jacky, as she is confined to barracks for the next wee while as she has broken her leg. After having surgery with pins and plates knitting her back together, she is not allowed to put her foot on the floor for 6-8weeks but with the aid of a walker and crutches she can hop around slowly. Not being accustomed to sitting still for any length of time, I thought I would provide a distraction and be her assistant/nurse/minion for the day and give Chris a break!
We spent the day doing some handwork but mainly talking before I headed back home. I will go over again next week for a couple of days and make myself useful.
The next day we both headed into One Tree Point to see Gary & Marg, where we spent a lovely few hours talking and laughing, these two always make me laugh which is good for the soul. Gary had bought himself a new iPhone, and as mine is very old (almost ready for MOTAT), I bought his relatively new old phone from him. Next will come the trying to work out how to transfer everything from my old phone to the new phone, this is when I need the grandkids to assist! But in the end it was a very quick, easy and simple process that I accomplished on my own.
Garry came to join us and to do a bit of fishing, however that was fraught with disaster as on the second day of fishing, the drone decided to fly out, then spin in circles before dropping into the sea, never to be seen again!! After lots of talking with those in the know, it is apparently probably due to interference from something like wifi, phones, even hearing aids and pacemakers can interfere with frequencies and disrupt things. Garry was heading off to go and purchase a replacement the following day.
We made a quick trip down to Auckland as our daughter in law Anita’s mother had passed away and it was her funeral. We were there to support her and Simon on the day through this trying time. However, things were to take a dramatic turn as just as we were about to leave after the service and we were saying our farewells, Simon received word that his mum had just passed away. A very sad time for Simon & Jason, although it was expected, just not quite so soon. We stayed on for a while with Simon before heading back to Uretiti.
We were soon back home for a day or so before I headed over to Whakapirau to annoy Jacky and be her nurse for a couple of days whilst Chris was away. Delicious food was made and eaten, lots of talking went on and a little bit of craft work was done. Jacky is extremely talented and is currently making Korowai – traditional Māori feather cloaks. She has made a couple already and is in the process of making another.
Jacky working on the latest cloak, with her left leg in a brace up on a chair. Completed KorowaiAnd another completed cloak in a different style
Back to the RV and a few days of doing some routine bits and pieces before Garry was back with not just a new drone but a new caravan! Apparently whilst I was off playing nursemaid, Roy and Garry had gone to look at a new caravan, they liked what they saw and before you knew what was happening, the caravan was hitched up and on its way to join us.
More fishing, more tales told, and plans were made for the next few weeks as well as for next year, but more on all that later.
Someone has flicked a switch and turned the lovely warm fine weather off and given us cold, very windy and wet conditions. It’s very unpleasant out there, very wild and woolly to say the least. We are about 250m from the beach however our RV/bus/van/home is covered in sand. I did venture down to the beach for a look but the last 10m were a nightmare as I was getting sandblasted and it was quite painful. But I did manage to take a quick video.
Very windy and rough conditions.
Garry came to join us late last week and to do a bit of fishing, however, the luck had changed and the first couple of goes were unproductive before success on Saturday morning. The fellas went down to the beach to have another fish around lunch time but they were back quite quickly I thought. Oh no, the worst possible thing had happened, the drone had flown out to around 160m off shore before stopping, then turning in circles and before dropping into the sea. We are not sure why this happened but it’s a bit strange as on 2 previous occasions it has done something similar but always returning to base. It has only every happened to the drone off this beach so we are wondering if someone is using some sort of frequency blocking device, with catastrophic results in this last instance. Who knows. Update: we have since been told that interference from wifi, phones, even hearing aids can affect the frequency altho we are not convinced that this was the problem here.
Previous to the above two events, Roy and I headed into Whangarei on Friday to get a few chores as well as the shopping done. We came out of the first store to find the car would not start. A kind lady jump started the car for us and we were off again, but only for about 100m when again the car just died on us…in a stream of traffic! We managed, with some kind assistance, to push the car across the road to a safe park where we made a call to an auto electrician. He was quickly with us, changed the battery but no, it’s not the battery at fault, it seems it’s the alternator. With a new battery we were able to drive the RAV to their workshop close by where the very friendly and helpful staff sourced a new alternator for us very quickly, it will be delivered on Monday and they should have it going again for us soon after. Hmmm, but we are stuck in a Whangarei, we haven’t done our shopping and none of the other chores, what are we to do? Garry to the rescue, he drove up, picked us up, dropped us at the supermarket so we could get our shopping done whilst he attended to a couple of his chores, we decided nothing else was urgent and could be put off until we got the car back next week. So we were soon on our way back to Uretiti.
So here we are, tucked up in our home with winter clothes on again, with the heating going thinking warm thoughts. Oh but I did make soup for lunch….which is a bit of a running joke. You see I have been complaining about things taking up room in the freezer that need to make way for fish, one of them being a pack of frozen peas. You see a wise man once told me that anything worth less than what you would pay for fish can make way for the said fish, therefore the peas must be used. There is another running joke about peas, you see I don’t use peas very often in fact a small pack of peas would last me a year or more but I always get some in when friends Helen & Don are around…this joke about peas goes back many, many, years when Don jokingly said something about a meal not being a meal if it didn’t have peas with it. Anyway, I had a pack of peas in the freezer left from when Don & Helen came to visit and they needed to be used. So I made pea soup.
Pea soup, delicious and warming on a miserable day
The remains of cyclone Lola did her thing and we did rock and roll a bit during the nightbut we were very fortunate to be tucked away in our sheltered parking area. Tuesday dawned a little brighter and hey ho the car is ready to be picked up. Joe & Glenys (the ex custodians here at Uretiti) offered us a lift in to Whangarei, apparently in payback for a kind deed we did for them a few years ago that they were very grateful for. So we were off into Whangarei to pick up the car.
Now, I must say, we get a hit of flack about our little car; it’s age, doesn’t look the flashest, the mileage, but we take all the criticism on the chin. It does us well, gets us from A to B (most of the time), goes on beaches, up over some rumpty old roads and has served us well, so we figured a new alternator was worth doing. The RAV has done just over 407,000kms which doesn’t include when it’s towed as it doesn’t tick over when towed, it’s been a great little workhorse besides, the man at the workshop said she’s good for at least another 500,000kms!!! It’s back on the road, running as smooth as anything, it’s almost vintage if not an antique and we are very pleased to have it back. Now hopefully it will trudge along a little bit longer…fingers crossed!
It’s Labour Weekend coming up, why didn’t I realise that before now? Time to head north again and to Uretiti for the long weekend and a bit of fishing. Peter & Wendy are joining us for the weekend.
Peter & Wendy all parked up. Can you see us in our secret hidey hole?Yep, there we are! Back in our favourite spot.
Peter & Wendy arrived Friday, and “no, I don’t think we will go fishing today” said Pete. However, after a walk to the beach and seeing others catching fish he was soon back saying let’s go Roy.
There they goRoy with his catch Not bad return for an hour on the beach
Over the weekend, the weather cleared to bring us lovely warm days, tales were told, fish were caught, eaten and vacuum packed then frozen for later and good times were had by all.
Clockwise from top left: Roy & Bernice, catch of the day, Roy with his 68cm snapper, Roy & Peter on the filleting production line whilst Wendy and I were vacuum packing.
The fishing was outstanding, over the long weekend, we fished only in the evenings after the majority of beach goers had left the beach so we didn’t hook into any swimmers or interfere with families having fun. And with excellent catches with magnificent sized fish, we didn’t need to fish any more often. Other campers were gifted fish, as were friends. Oh and I made some new friends too as I noticed a large group camping, obviously a large extended family, and as I was passing I stopped and asked if they would like the fish heads and frames. Oh my goodness, they were thrilled at the prospect and eagerly accepted my offer so after each days filleting exercise a large bag of heads and frames were delivered to them. I was greeted like a long lost friend, invited to share food and drink with them and I did chat to them, learnt that they were “new” NZers and how they buy snapper heads from their local supermarket as a special treat preferring the heads to fillets. I was shown how they cook them and what they add to the feast and then share with all the family members from young to old. We were delighted that we could share our spoils and make their weekend as memorable as ours.
More fish and Peter looking extremely happy with his birthday catchSocialising over the weekend with Peter & Wendy, and yes Peter had a significant birthday so I made him a cake to welcome him to the OAP club…..my turn next!
It was a lovely weekend of shared fish, shared meals and great company but unfortunately Wendy & Pete had to return to Auckland for work on Tuesday. However, I am sure it won’t be long until we meet up again.
I don’t know where the time goes, it disappears somewhere into the ether without me noticing it. We spent a week at Uretiti DOC (Department of Conservation) camp utilising our annual pass before we would be moving on. The first three days were spent catching up with friends but not before giving the van a wash down using a couple of buckets of water (and yes, I did ask if it was ok to wash the van). The drive up to Uretiti covered the van from top to toe with road grit, mud, dust, dirt and other debris, it really was a mess and I knew if we left it too long then it would set like concrete. We worked in tandem with one of us washing, the other rinsing and we soon had it all as clean as we possibly could get it without utilising a hose.
Gary & Marg called in on their way past with a couple of their grandkids, we always enjoy catching up with these two and hearing all their news. The following day we headed down to Marsden Cove to see Mark & Glynis on their boat, it was very good timing as they were about to head away the following day to Australia for a holiday. The next day Jacky & Chris came for lunch, it was a lovely afternoon spent chatting and sorting out our housesitting times starting next month.
However, you will have noticed that there is nary a photo in sight, I completely forgot to take any photos.
Garry came and joined us for a couple of days, we were all hoping to catch some fish. But when Garry arrived he realised he’d left an important piece of equipment at home, ie. the drone, so we all piled into his car for an afternoons outing to Mangawhai to pick it up and have a late lunch. That was a nice way to spend an afternoon having a look around Mangawhai and a very late lunch on the beach at Langs Beach.
Back at Uretiti, it wasn’t for the lack of trying over the next couple of days, but no fish were harmed with hardly a bite it was very disappointing. The only things that were biting were the sandflies with my ankles becoming the sacrificial target for the little blighters.
Joe & Glynnis came into camp, they were long time managers at Uretiti in the first few years we started coming here and have since retired. It was lovely to see them again as we had met up with them randomly around the South Island in 2021 so it was good to catch up. Again, no photos were taken, we were just too busy talking.
Our week came to an end, we were moving on but not too far away this time where I shall endeavour to take the odd photo or two!
The Vanninis' Manoeuvres 