Work on the boat has gone well. So well that we expanded the project list and handed it off to our capable contractors. Bathroom upgrades, rigging updates, new rudder stocks, and rain gutters for the outside portlights. Lots of "nice-to-have" projects that have been accumulating on our list.
This is the shoulder season for New Zealand travel. Most of the locals are back at work and in school. The weather is still mild. The campgrounds are nearly empty.
Pam found a good deal on a rental camper van. We’ve been checking out the sights and visiting friends along the way.
Our camper is certified for "Freedom Camping." It's fully self-contained. That opens up many places to stay. Everything from parking lots in the city to remote beaches. It's similar to living on the boat where we have to keep tabs on stored electricity and water.
We don't make any plans. We get up in the morning and figure out where we want to spend the next night. There is always a great hike or beach walk. We message friends as we get close and meet up with them near where they and their boats are tied up. We relied on two great crowdsource apps to find campsites: RankersCamping and CamperMate.
A Few Photos:
Dinner with Chris and Kate aboard Javelin in Marsden Cove. Celebrating Kate’s birthday. Chris grilled lamb on his boat grill! We parked the camper around the corner right on the bay.Matt and Christine met us in Paihia and took us daysailing. We can’t remember the last time someone took us sailing. Sugar Shack is a fellow Catana 471. It’s always fun to sail on a sister ship and see how things are done. Matt and Christine have been out cruising for a decade. They started in Florida. They are veterans. We sailed out to Urupukapuka Island in the Bay of Islands for lunch.The town of Russell overlooking Kororareka Bay in the Bay of Islands. View from our campsite. You get here by car ferry from the town of Opua.The Maori and British populations of New Zealand operate under a “partnership” defined in The Treaty of Waitangi. The museums and cultural performances at the treaty site provide a good introduction and overview of this unique, historic arrangement.The furthest north you can camp in New Zealand. Tapotupotu Campsite, Aupouri Peninsula, Cape Reiga.Cape Reinga. The northern most point in New Zealand. Fiji lies 1,000 nautical miles in the distance.The Cape Reinga lighthouse has been in continuous operation for over 85 years. Like most lighthouses now, it’s been upgraded to an automated, battery/solar powered LED lamp.90 Mile Beach on the North Island’s west coast. New Zealand uses the metric system but for some reason this beach is not 144.8 kilometer beach. Also, it’s really only 55 miles long. But still, an epic beach walk.90 Mile Beach is home to herds of wild horses. Many of them congregate at the Hukatere Lodge where we camped. Like this family just outside our door.We stopped at the Whangaroa [Fung-ga-row-uh] Sport Fishing Club to meet our friends Scott and Joanne (Fundango) for dinner. They were anchored in Whangaroa Bay.Our campsite at the Tauranga Bay Holiday Park (not the same Tauranga where we keep the boat). The view from our campsite at Otamure Bay beach.Whangarei’s [Fung-ga-ray] Town Basin. The center of gravity of the North Island cruising scene. We stayed in the town car park. The town allows a few freedom campers each night.Whangarei's Hundertwasser Art Centre.Brunch in Whangarei. L-R Matt, Christine (Sugar Shack), Pam, Jim, Charlie, Suze (Purrr).Spectacular beach walk at our campsite in Tāwharanui Regional Park. It's a nature preserve and home to kiwis (the actual birds, not the local citizens). We heard them calling but despite our best effort on a dark, night walk, we never saw them. Our last night before heading back to Auckland.New Zealand has great RV infrastructure. Most towns have public dump stations. Camping sites abound—rustic, resort, remote, and downtown--you'll find it here.We traded the camper for a rental car in Auckland and headed south to pick up our new rudder stocks from the anodizer. Then back to Tauranga to finish up our boat projects.
