29th June 2024 at 05:35 - Damian

Mānawatia a Matariki!

Yesterday we drove the long way to Leigh for lunch.

We stopped off at Pakiri Beach¹ because we plan to do a day walk later in the year starting at Te Arai (where we stayed a couple of weekends ago) down the coast finishing at Pakiri which will involve crossing the river there at the end. It looks shallow enough to wade across and will be a refreshing end to a 12km beach walk.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81kiri

15th June 2024 at 14:21 - Damian

Instead of spending the night at the bach we've made our way to Te Arai Regional Park¹ near Mangawhai just north of Auckland. It's raining but it's remote and right on the surf beach and only costs $21 for the night.

Stopped at the markets in Mangawhai just as they were closing and had the most amazing pie from the coffee truck there; called 'Porky Pickle' with pulled pork, ham, pickles and salty mustard.

1. https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/parks-recreation/stay-at-park/Pages/accommodation-details.aspx?itemID=81

15th June 2024 at 14:16 - Damian

This weekend was supposed to be a regular scything/mowing weekend at the bach but started badly with getting stuck in the sopping ground. It resulted in a stressful hour or two of getting it unstuck, turned around and back up the slippery driveway abandoning the whole idea.

12th June 2024 at 08:05 - Damian

Here we document our travels from 2024 onwards