Coromandel Peninsula - Jackson's Bay - Roll on summer

Feeding time at Port Jackson 

With our time coming to an end at Waihi Beach, we headed South for a night to catch up our with old friends Dale & Don who left Nelson 20 odd years ago and are now living in Papamoa (south end of the Mount in Tauranga) to look at house sitting for them in November when they head away to

Bill struggling to get up!

 celebrate Dales special birthday. Papamoa has grown hugely since we were last there a few years ago with residential development. But like all these new areas that grow so fast, infrastructure like roading is way behind, which we got caught in trying to get into Tauranga Monday morning for another dental appointment.More motorways seem to create more bottle necks!

While Graeme is happy to be home once again
(singing outside Bill's window)

But we did have an enjoyable catch up as always and look forward to catching up again when we return to house sit. With a lovely beach near by, a few cycle ways, I'm sure we will find plenty to keep us out of trouble for the ten days they will be away.

Packed up and ready to move on.

After 9 weeks house sitting for Graeme & Claire it was time to ready ourselves for  their return from Europe. We drove up to Auckland leaving Waihi at 3.00am! Tip for the Reader - ask what time the flight arrives before agreeing to pick someone up from an airport! Arriving 5.00am - only 15mins late but too long for our  summer clad Pick Up's, freezing after a couple of months in hot Mediterranean climes. And being Auckland - a little welcome home bit of rain to go with the wind. But on arriving back at their home at 7.00AM the sun was once more shining, - all was well with the world again.

We continued packing up and cooking meals for our jet lagged hosts, who were delighted to be home once again. As it was Claire's birthday the day before, G had organised with a few friends to catch up at the Flat White for dinner - luckily they had a quick nap in the afternoon to be able to keep their eyes open. We thought it would be an early night but somehow G managed to keep us up till the wee hours of the next morning! Don't know how he does it. Claire was sensible and headed off to bed much earlier. Bill was suffering a little the next morning - took a few hours to get moving - G is such a bad influence on him 😉

First time for the awning to go out.

Freedom camping at Waikawau Reserve

The following morning we were on our way to meet Diana (from Nelson) with her new Camper (Explorer Compass 4WD) - the meeting place being Thames as she came down from Auckland and we came across from Waihi Beach. We stocked up from the last large supermarket we would see for a couple of weeks, and headed up the  Coromandel Coast, freedom camping our first night on the Waikawau Reserve along with half a dozen other Camper Vans. 

Learning Dump station etiquette

The Coromandel was one of the first councils to aggressively manage freedom camping - initially banning it. But after being taken to court by the NZMCA they had to alter their rules and implemented freedom camping areas with signposts stating exactly where you can park. So as we travelled along the coast there was plenty of spots but with our towing rig, we needed access to a large parking spot which we found at Waikawau. Being new to motorhoming and having a brand new camper, it worked well to meet up and have a couple of days together before Diana headed northward on her own for a bit of a tour before returning to Nelson. And of course Bill didn't have a problem checking out all the new gadgets and systems of a different style of Camper.

A bit of sight seeing -
letterboxes can look picturesque.

Narrow gauge railway engine out on a turning point!

Our second night was in the township of Coromandel which is an old mining town / fishing village. Lovely with the buildings having kept their old frontages. The NZMCA have a relatively new site right in the town - easy walking to the main street. It was only a short trip from Thames, so we settled into the camp site, unhooked the car and headed off for a bit of sight seeing, We visited the Driving Creek Railway, which Bill & I had done nearly 3 years ago and thought it was well worth sharing with D. We were fortunate with a lovely day to make the most from the "Eyefull Tower" at the top of the track, looking back over the Firth of Thames back toward Auckland.

Celebrating Diana's new Camper
(and the first of many Selfies)

The next morning we topped up with some more fresh supplies, water and drained our waste tanks before heading up the Coromandel Peninsula - our destination Fantail Bay (a Doc Camp we had stayed at 3 years ago) - the scenery along this road is amazing with the road right along the edge of the coastline in some places (some places not there at all!)

Bill tidying up his Cellar

Diana doing an advert for Persil

Bill excited to have Custard Squares
(Best ones we have had - from a Coromandel Bakery)

We pulled into Fantail Bay to find it a little overgrown compared to last time and quite shaded with the large pohutukawa's which is great in summer but at this time of year and the need to give our solar panels maximum sun we needed to make sure we parked in the right spot. This happened to be where a couple were packing up and about to leave so we walked down to the beach with Diana to look at the view and check the fishing spots on the rocks while we waited. A guy was just pulling up his little runabout as we arrived so Bill gave him a hand. He turned out to be a bit of a hard case, a bit of a story teller. He had spent some time down Motueka way till recently when he had returned to Tahuna (Waikato) to look after his parents. He told us how lovely Port Jackson was (the next bay up at the top of the Peninsula) and showing us photo's on his phone convinced us that was the better camp to get to. Bill and I had been there 32 years ago - when Shannon was just 4 months old - but we had little memory of it, just as I'm sure she does too. Except that it had been a lovely spot back then - probably just a paddock by the beach. Well 32 years later - it is a lovely Doc camp spread right along the beach and here we found Frederick the Doc Ranger from Fantail Bay 3 years earlier. He had had a promotion and now managed these Camps at the top of the peninsula with his side kick Dave.

Views down to Jackson Bay

Bill waiting for the Selfie to be taken - he's not playing the game

The Peninsula is covered in Pohutukawa - some very
old ones up this way on the Coastal Walkway

Doc now have a "pack in, pack out" policy with your rubbish and recycling, which works well when they take all your organic waste which they feed their worm farms. So on arrival you get a welcome (or a bit of abuse if Frederick remembers you) and a little bucket for your organic waste.

Being the start of the school holidays we expected the camp to be busier but it was surprisingly empty. We found a lovely spot where we parked up for what turned out to be the week, although originally was to be a few days. No plans really. Diana, with only having three weeks away from Nelson, was only staying a few days to feel confident with her Camper before heading north.

Port Jackson is at the top of the Coromandel Peninsula with the road continuing on to Fletcher Bay where it ends at another Doc camp which had a bit of road damage last summer with a storm that came through currently restricting use of the camp . Port Jackson has the nicer beach and is more stretched out. There are two lovely walks up here. The Muriwai Loop- a  6km/ 2hr walk around the headland (well 3 in our case with lots of photo's). And the Coromandel Coastal Walkway from Fletcher Bay to Stony Bay- a 7hr 10km return walk. Over the next couple of days we did these walks with Diana - the Coastal walk we only went half way to a lookout point. We have plans to meet Julie & Steve later in the month at Port Charles near Stony Bay where we plan to do the other half of this walkway then.

Diana headed off mid week to continue her travels, confident in the use of her Camper. Meeting a fellow Explorer owner staying at the camp was also good for her to learn a few tips. As the weather was great (summery) and we had plenty of food and supplies, we decided to stay on till the end of the week.

Bill had a go fishing of the beach surf casting and managed to catch a kawhai and a snapper - unfortunately both too small to keep.

Well done Bill 😊

Trying hard but without success

The next day we got out in the kayak for three hours fishing. Not a lot of bites as we moved around the bay, along with 3 other kayakers out there not looking like they were having much more luck than us. We moved over to the far side of the bay, by a reef heading out from the headland and success! A good sized snapper which gave us a couple of meals. Bill did very well managing to bring it into the kayak without too much mess or stabbing himself. There's not a lot of room in the hatch for a thrashing fish / rod /sharp knife and kayaker! Thankfully we have all the kids we need.

Bill & Mate Aldean observing life

As the week progressed a few more people arrived, a few more families, including 5 year old Aldean with his grandparents, who took a liking to Bill and sharing his knowledge (all 5 years of it) on fishing. He kept in touch with his Grandma with a walkie talkie, so she knew where he was. There were also plenty of young travellers in their camper cars enjoying this part of NZ too - the narrow windy gravel roads not deterring them.

Views back to Cape Colville

Not sure what he's looking for but not at the camera!

Considering how close we were to Auckland and Tauranga and how great the weather was, we were surprised more families weren't here camping. But we could imagine what it would be like over the Christmas break when it gets booked out. 

The northern end of Port Jackson - we are parked in the middle.

By the end of the week it was time for us to return to Coromandel township to empty our tanks, top up fresh water and restock the fridge and back into better cellular coverage to do some computer work and our Gst return before heading up the other side of the Peninsula to Stony Bay, our next destination.