Waihi Beach House Sitting Part Two

It's a tough job but someone has to bring in the fish 😊

Bill continued installing the kitchen in Waihi having now recently finished it - Julz is so happy she wants him to do the flooring which isn't as easy with the new kitchen in place. But he will achieve a great job I'm sure. He also had a call for another job just down the road which hopefully is the small job he says with our time fast coming to an end here at Waihi Beach. Been quite the busy guy! Bit of a shake up to our routine but good for the bank.

Alan with breakfast

Margaret & I supervising the fishing

Alan & Margaret (Shannon's In-Laws - AC's parents) called in for a couple of nights with their new motorhome - lovely model too. They were doing a local run for a couple of nights, not too far from home to make sure everything was working well and they had everything they needed on board. Nice to have a bit of support at the beginning - I remember we had our first night in Big Yella in our garden. And our first night in Yella 2 Blu was at Helen & Ralph's - comfort near by should anything go wrong.Their trip was a success returning to Auckland, just the weather could have been a little warmer. But we did get the contiki out and caught a snapper & a gurnard - enough for breakfast.

Bit of damage around the edges
 of the skylight

With Waihi Beach being central to Tauranga or Auckland we caught up with ex Nelson friends Dale & Don whom we will hopefully house sit for at Papamoa Beach in November. Also caught up with Paull & Marta & family on their way to Tauranga to M's parents place for the night. Nice timing for lunch and a little bit of painting - thank you Marta :)

In between Bill working for Julz he has also been working away on the jobs we had listed requiring to be done in the Bus. 

 The fridge is now back in place and operating beautifully with the 3rd solar panel and electronic control of the thermostat. Repairs to the central sky light turned into a bigger job than initially thought once the extent of the damage could be seen but Bill restored and improved the installation. So hopefully no more leaks.

Entrance to the bus (Before)

After rennovation

My contribution to the Bus list was to get the entrance painted, the same white wash as the upper cupboards Bill put in last year when we stayed here. Freshen and lighten the entrance up - took quite a few coats of paint but got there in the end. Very happy with the change.

Gerald Crapp having a chat to Bill

And I have continued my dental visits to Tauranga catching up on a couple of crowns (Ouch) and fillings after years of just hanging in there with my teeth. This has worked in with picking up parts & shopping as Waihi Beach doesn't have much to offer in those departments. Also a chance to do some other walks such as around Mount Maunganui and Gerald Crapp's Reserve walkway at Omokoroa. Lots of Maori & early pioneering history in the area.

Selfie - unrecognisable in helmets & glasses

Keeping warm while waiting for the fish

Julie & Steve were able to get a bit of cycling and fishing in over their weekend visit. Fishing with the contiki instead of out in their boat when we visited them up north at their Bach in Rangiputa was a different experience but just as rewarding - well almost. I think we may have caught more snapper up north - but no gurnard! And with Julie's current knee issue, my electric bike was just perfect for our local bike ride. I had to use an unpowered bike but I did cope.

With Father's day and it being the first Sunday of the month, there had been plenty of local radio advertising of the Athenree Homestead being open for devonshire teas and a look through the old homestead and railway station at the top of the hill on the southern entrance into Waihi Beach. It wasn't that great a day weather wise, but it hadn't been all that week so we needed to get out for a bit of fresh air and take the bikes for a ride as it was a bit further than our usual walks. So 13.4km return and a storm later, we returned drenched, cold and a bit hungry as the event had been cancelled due to maintenance!!! Maintenance - on the only day of the month they are open!! And as for that local radio station announcer - I'm still trying to find out who he is that was encouraging us for a couple of weeks to attend and enjoy their lovely devonshire scones.

Closed for maintenance!!!

We finally had a lovely sunny day without wind and where we were free for the day to get out for a paddle up the Estuary around the back of Waihi Beach. We launched at Anzac Bay down Bowentown ( Southern end of Waihi Beach) and headed up the Estuary on the incoming tide. It was so lovely and peaceful.

Lovely and peaceful up the estuary

We went as far as we could till we came to a fallen tree that was blocking us from going any further inland plus it was getting pretty shallow up there. But we paddled 16.6km in total for the day so it wasn't too bad for our first paddle since we first picked it up last March. The operation of getting the kayak up and onto the car and then off again went very smoothly - the extension on the bike rack works well to help roller it up and down.

With the change in the weather (more settled and warmer) we did the ride from Waihi to Paeroa on the Hauraki Trail looking beautiful in the flush of spring. The trail follows the Waihi - Paeroa railway line which was built by the government back in 1905 for the Waihi Goldmining Companies who needed efficient transport to get fuel supplies and heavy machinery into the area. It eventually became part of the East Coast Main Trunk Line but closed in 1978 when the Kaimai Tunnel was put through. But now it is a great walk / cycle way. It was a very pleasant ride , not too busy even with being a Saturday. We rode into Paeroa for a late lunch before returning to Waihi. The 47km return ride was made easy on the return journey which was a bit more uphill than downhill with our electric assistance. And to think I didn't want my bike converted!! 

Following the Ohinemuri river down from Waihi

Goldmining Relics (and Bill)

With Trevor (Nelson) passing northward with his business, and a chance to take some time out and catch a fish or two . And have a couple of nice reds. It was an opportunity not to be missed and Waihi Beach turned on the weather. First night was only a practise run with a little Kahawai but B&T perfected it the next night with 3 snapper and a couple of gurnard. Well done Guys. And hope you felt recharged to head north Trevor.

While we have been in residence here at WB, it was also a chance to catch up with my Auckland brothers & partners again. Had a lovely walk in the Karangahake Gorge with Allan & Nicky, up through the Windows trail and along the Goldmining trail. The Windows walk is a 2km loop walk in the centre of the Hauraki Trail with lots of tunnels and great views up the Gorge and out over the river.

It was such a beautiful day that passing the Karangahake Winery Estate (previously called the Ohinemuri Winery) on the trail heading back to the carpark, we got the calling. Yes a lovely chilled Chardonnay was waiting for us. Just a refreshing glass each and head on our way but Allan saw on the menu a shared platter and breads. We couldn't resist as it was getting on toward 2.00pm. And really pleased we did- it was a large platter of various dips/ relishes/ hummus / cheeses / salamis and pickled accoutrement's. Delicious but quite garlicky so had to stop at the Waikino Tavern for a pint on our return to Waihi Beach. A lovely old Hotel in the Gorge that has recently been refurbished. The road works outside had the traffic stopping for a few minutes so there were quite a few travelers popping in for a cold drink as they passed through - must have been one of the few businesses not hurt with road works!

Not sure where the hands are!

Nicky & I waiting on the fish -
 luckily we didn't hold our breath.

Then Wayne & Kate called in after catching up Paull & Marta & family who were visiting Tauranga for the weekend. This gave them a chance to check out the property market and see the great value of selling up in Auckland and move to a town that still has lots to offer including leaving some money in the bank after selling up in Auckland!

Bill's not sharing his electric bike with Trevor - not that it
was necessary on this ride

We had put the Contiki out with A&N but were unsuccessful. It was a beautiful evening, just on the change of light at the end of the day - the fishing app said it was good fishing. What could go wrong!

Well the current was what we think went wrong. While sitting on the beach waiting to bring in the Contiki, enjoying the calm of the end of the day, 4 young people came along to tell us a Contiki had washed ashore about a km down the beach. Bummer! So by the time it was retrieved and rewound with no fish of course, the evening was getting on and I think we were all over fishing. Such a shame to the end of an otherwise lovely day. The following night we saw a group of people retrieving their contiki in the same manner so something had changed. And unfortunately the weather changed too so it wasn't that pleasant to give it another go with W&K but luckily we had some snapper and gurnard in the freezer.

Great mural on the public toilets

Our time is zooming along to an end here at W.B and a bit of a panic now to get our bus jobs complete plus Bill's work for his clients. With Graeme & Claire returning soon, it will be time to move on to our next adventure - up the Coromandel Peninsula.

Perfect location for a Hopfederation Beer