Hello Again

So apparently it's been a year since I have written. Oops. We took a fun camping trip a few weeks ago that I thought I would share with you guys.

We took a trip out to the Manakau heads, which is something I've been trying to get done for a few years now. It is only an hour and a half drive away, so it's sad that it has taken us this long, but it was well worth the wait.

We headed out Saturday afternoon which was a stunner of a day. We stopped in Waiuku for lunch on the way and there just happened to be a barbershop brass band playing in the middle of the town. You have to love small towns. Anyway, we continued on to the tip of the peninsula where there is one of the few lighthouses you can actually still go in, and hasn't been replaced by a solar panel. Despite the fact that it took us an hour and a half to get there, just across the water would have only taken us 20 minutes to get to from home. The lighthouse was really cool. I had read something that had said it was a good place for lunch and to watch for whales, but the only bench we could find faced away from the water, so it wasn't the ideal lunch spot I had envisaged.

our lunch spot

We then went to a winery in the area, which the guy described as more of a "vin-patch" instead of a vineyard. They only had three types of wine (a red, a white and a rose), but the tasting was outside with a beautiful view of the harbor and a bunch of butterflies flying about.

After that we headed to our campsite for the night. We went for a bit of a walk, and I even went for a brief swim. On the beach we saw a little island in the distance that had a sandbar going out to it. We went and had an explore on it and by the time we finished, we turned around and the sandbar had disappeared. Fortunately the water was still only ankle deep. We headed back to our campsite and had our gourmet dinner of PB&J. The website had claimed there were limited spaces available, but there were only about 5 other tents, which was nice. Fortunately we unknowingly picked the spot furthest from the toilet because it was only a drop toilet and the scent was very strong. Fortunately we only had to deal with it when the wind shifted a few times (and when we had to use it).

the island when we walked out to it

the island about 20 min later

view of the sun setting from out campsite.

the little island is even further out now!

In the morning, we went for another wander around the park and then headed off. I was using a very outdated map book to navigate us and there was a marking for something called Hamilton's Gap that intrigued me. We had no idea what it was, but it was only a short detour, so we went for it. It turned out to be the highlight of our trip. It was a small gap in the massive hills that led out to the beach. The waves were crashing in and there were massive sanddunes lining the beach. The scale of it was incredible and the pictures just don't do it justice. This country continues to amaze me at all these treasures tucked away all over the place that no one even mentions. To go from a calm shelly beach with rolling green hills to a black sand beach with crashing waves in only a ten minute drive is crazy. Not only that but its so close to home.

if you look closely you can see the tracks from everyone sliding down the sanddune.

if you look closely, you can see people, which gives an idea of the scale.

looking back to the gap from the beach

We then made a quick stop at a waterfall on our way home. Content, we headed home did some chores and went to the fire gardens, which was an exhibit put on for the Auckland Arts festival. Sean's parents got us the tickets for Christmas. It was pretty much a bunch of installations made of fire and, while slightly terrifying, was really neat.

 

this one was spinning

I also finally finished my quilt that I worked on over the new year's break.

hunter approves.

Well that's it for me. Soccer season is about to be in full swing again. I have volunteered to coach an Under-17 girls team, but it looks like they won't have enough players for a team.