The Far North of New Zealand... Cable Bay...

 Yesterday I went to Cable Bay. Looking across the water

of Doubtless Bay... The little blimp in the middle is Mt Puheke...

 

 Tokerau Beach on the  far side...

 And looking south along to Coopers Beach...

 The golden sand...

 Across the water to the little settlement of HeiHei...

 The coloured broken shells... Hundreds of them...

 The swirling water...

 Incredibly clear rock pools...

 And the sprawling Pohutukawa trees...

This beach the sand and views epitomizes The Far

North to me...

 

The houses developing on the hill in the north facing sun.

I still think this area of New Zealand is my favourite

place... I could live here... I will bring my bus back again

when the weather's warm enough to fish and swim.

 

Tokerau Beach... My Last Day

It's my last day at Tokerau Beach.
I have been freedom parked here for a month.
It's such a lovely place for fishing and walking...
I'm always reluctant to move on...


So from the sunrise at 7.40am...

And the lovely fresh morning and golden colours...

Till the sun was fully up and warm...
And the tide is coming in...
I relished my day and also felt sad about moving...
Even though I am moving on to do other things
and go other places that I want to go and do!

The tide went out and I went for a solitary walk along the
hard sand... Not another soul in sight although
there were a few other buses and motor homes
parked nearby

The sea is blue and gentle and not particularly cold.
There is no wind... So no kite fishing.

And the day began to end and the sun go down...
And the moon appeared...

The colours changed to the soft muted evening colours...

The moon reflected a silver path across the water...

Totally magical... And it will still be happening...
And the tide will come in and go out...
And the beach and sea will still be there...
When I come back next year.

People I Meet On The Road... No. 4... The Census Lady...

Tonight is Census night in New Zealand.
The gathering of census statistics first started in 1851,
initially every 3 years, now every 5 years.
The census officially occurs at midnight on a Tuesday  in March...
And today, Tuesday night, is census night.



I was having drinks with my current neighbours
enjoying the late afternoon at Tokerau Beach...
The conversation turned to the census.
I had forgotten all about it...
Some of my neighbours had tried to get forms
and were told the nearest camping ground had them.
On asking the camping ground they were told they
needed to book in and stay the night at $40...
So they decided not to.
Another neighbour had previously experienced
census night in his housebus parked at the beach...
So his opinion was "Somebody will come to the beach
and bring the forms."
We were rather sceptical...
But in the middle of this conversation
who should walk over the sandhills but...
Yes... You guessed... Jean Jurlina... The census form lady.

With her bag of forms... One for each person...
And one per dwelling.

The census deliverers attempt to cover all people
in hospitals, camp grounds, workplaces and transport systems...
Wherever people might be at midnight.
And here we were on this remote beach in the Far North.
I was totally astonished... Can't escape the system after all!

Jean got all her forms organised.
She didn't have many left... But there were only four of us.





She took our names and vehicle registration numbers
for identification... What an interesting job...
Jean must have wondered who she was going to
meet as she walked along the beach to the
vehicles she could see in the distance.


With Sue and Jack... Forms delivered...
Mission accomplished.
She will come back and get them in a few days...
Or we can be techno Kiwis and fill them in online...
Now we have an official census number.

People I Meet On The Road... No 3... The Couple From Oz...

This is Doreen and Bill...
I met them about three weeks ago
when I was parked at Tokerau Beach.
I was walking round to Coca Cola Lake to fill
some water bottles and stopped to talk to Doreen.
We chatted away until we both got too hot
to stand out in the sun any longer.
Doreen told me they live in Australia
and have a big house bus that they holiday in.
They also keep a small motor home here in
New Zealand. They come and visit their
family here once or twice a year
and when doing that take the opportunity
to escape into the fantastic New Zealand
wilderness and beaches.

I met up with them again at Rangiputa.
They had been exploring all the Karikari Peninsular
before driving down the hill to shelter from the easterly wind.
We spent some more time chatting...
Is it Ozzies or Kiwis that talk the most!
Anyway, I happened to mention that my grandson,
his wife and triplet daughters
- my great grand-daughters - live not far from the Gold Coast.
I couldn't remember the name of the suburb but asked where she
and Bill live... Well would you believe...
The live in the same suburb, just round the corner.
So an invitation to visit them...
And offers of sightseeing came my way.
I'm planning a trip early June for the girls 3rd birthday...
So Gold Coast... Here I come.
Do you believe in coincidences... Or God or the universe provides.
The people I meet on the road... And my friends ask me if I get lonely!

The Changing Moods... Of The Sea...

I've been freedom parking at Tokerau Beach.
I'm close to the sandhills or dunes and the sea.
I can look at the sea for hours...
It's always changing...
It's always different.
These photos are taken from my doorway or the dunes just outside.

Early morning, the sun glints on the waves
as the mist in the distance clears...
It's deserted...

During the day... Cloudy, windy and a bit stormy...

 
The sun's out, it's clear and still and hot...

 
People are fishing... There is a lot of longline fishing done here...
The beach goes for a long way and there are no rocks under the water.
Most people fish with battery operated 'Seahorses'...
There are a few balloons and kites
but the wind needs to be off shore to blow them out.


Even on the busiest of days... There are not many people...
That's the beauty of this place.

Storms... And big seas...


Dark threatening skies... But it often doesn't rain.



Delicate sunsets...

And the rising moon to end the day.

Happy New Year... 2013!

We are already 3 days into the new year...
Who created time and how it flies by so fast?
New Year's Day was bright and sunny here where I am parked
in my bus at Tokerau Beach in the Far North of New Zealand.
I was given this huge Snapper fish head that I am holding...
One of the new things I am learning is how to use my
small BBQ to smoke fish... Or anything for that matter.
I have got the BBQ set up now with it's own  little gas bottle.
I have a tray for the Manuka sawdust and racks for the fish...
Salt and brown sugar... And I'm smoking!

Tokerau Beach... The water temperature is 20deg C...
The waves are just right... And it's lots of fun.

It's too hot for too many clothes...
And smoking is hot work anyway!

This is the Snapper frame...
It's surprising how much fish is on them after filleting.

 
 The head smoking... I had to turn it over...
It was delicious to eat.


 
So... From my house to yours...
Have a great year and thank you for reading my blog.
I plan that there will be lots more posts this year as I spend time
at the beaches and travel on my adventures...

Merry Christmas

 From me to You... 
All my family, friends and blog readers...
Wherever  you are...
And however  you celebrate this Christmas season...

 
From where I am spending Christmas this year...
Parked with my friend Keith in The Flying Tortoise...

 
At Tokerau Beach in the Far North of New Zealand...
This is one of my favourite freedom parking spots.

It's a wilderness place at the moment...
This will change in a few days.

After Christmas Day...
People will arrive for the holidays.
Sun... Swimming... Fishing.

 And ever changing sunsets.

 So have a happy day whatever you are doing.