Utea Park, Hukatere

Utea Park

Oakura Bay Rest Day!

Oakura Bay

Helena Bay – Skullduggery & Cannibals

Helena Bay

NickyA snap decision to follow a road to the sea for a lunch break brought us to this beautiful little cove, with turquoise waters lapping the sand and picnic bench – ripe for cheese and cracker action, and a snooze in the warm sun. Sweet!

A silver haired local beach bach owner came over to check out these strangers ;) And we got to nattering. Turns out his great grand father lived there and had come over from Scotland in the 1870’s. There were all sorts of fascinating tales told, but one was of him as a child, merrily digging up human skulls in the eroding sand near the edge of the beach – each with spike holes in the top. Blimey! Creepy stuff. But not as bone chilling as the next story… His great grand father had told of ‘the last great feast’ on the headland in front of us, that lasted for 3 weeks. He’d “heard the celebrations, and then the screams every night as the tribe took their victims from the cages, cooked and ate them! “… Well … I nearly bloody choked on my cheese and crackers I tell you!! Blimmin ‘ek what do you say when someone says that with sincerity? My mind was boggling as we walked on up the hill… Pretty gobsmacked. “Hello. Nice day isn’t it. Oh by the way, see that spot there? People used to eat each other there… Hmm.. I think it might rain later eh.”

I took these revelations with an extremely large pinch of salt of course, (!).  

Some things the people you meet allude to can take us by surprise, to say the least! But in general the more of New Zealand we explore, the more we begin to glimpse some deep rooted feelings and very complex relationships between all the peoples of this beautiful country. It’s going to be a hard one to fully understand.

Barrons Beach, Whananaki

Barrons Beach, Whananaki

Waipu Cove

Waipu Cove

The real treat here was the TV. We had the movie channel! And managed to get through Surrogates, The International, and Australia along with a couple of rum and lime cocktails. Excellent! It absolutely chucked it down with rain that night, battering through the roof it was, so we were super thankful of a roof over our heads, and not to be huddled up in a soggy tent :)

Massive thanks to Nick and Jane for organizing this awesome pit stop for us!

Lunch at Langs Beach

Langs Beach

Could we look anymore English?

Could we look anymore English?

CookieHa ha, enjoying the last few rays of sun at Waiweta campground. Hard to believe we’ve been here over a month and this is the first time we’ve tried to tan our pastey white mid-drifts..?

Fantail Bay

Fantail Bay

Big bench for a little rest

Big bench for a little rest

NickyWho is this designed for?
My feet can’t touch the ground ;) But a greatly appreciated pitstop after a hot climb.

Therm-a-rest Surfing!

Cookie Surfing