We were regretting not being able to get away in the caravan this summer, so when Duncan mentioned that Veterans Golf was in Mahia I suggested a few days away. The weather forecast was not great - but how bad could it be?? The answer to that was pretty bad. Cold, strong, gusty wind and squalls of rain.
We set up after Duncan had played golf on Saturday. It never takes us long to set up on these short trips, and it wasn't long before we earned a beer, and had the BBQ heating for chops. "Where's the wire brush?" I asked - for cleaning the BBQ plates. Oh no, we must have left it behind, I tried to clean it with the dishwasher brush. Soon there was an acrid smell, and something caught alight in the bowl of the BBQ. Yes you guessed it - the plastic handle of the wire brush. (Bad as me putting my glasses through the washing machine)
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| View from the camping ground |
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The berries on the Pohutukawa trees are so prolific this year, following that spectacular flowering.
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Next morning I had a zoom meeting for the Macadamia Society which used up the last of my months data, so I had the rest of the day without the internet. It seemed that I couldn't log on to buy more data and in the end I had to buy $5 worth from the camp store to log on to buy some more. I think more daily Wordle and Nerdle habit must be pushing up my usage.
After lunch we went on a drive to Mahanga. It's quite a compact little seaside village with no shops.
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| Grassy reserve |
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| Couldn't work out how to get a selfie of ourselves in these two conveniently placed chairs. |
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| I'm not flying in this wind. C'mon, we're walking. |
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| Alright, just wait for me.... |
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| Excellent sedimentary rocks on the shoreline. |
Then we went to Blue Bay (where we took our first tent). A developer tried to turn it into the Pauanui of the East Coast - but not all that successfully.
The 'highlight' of the day was going to the Sunset Bar for dinner. I couldn't decide between the nachos or the spaghetti bolognaise but it didn't really matter as the mince mixture was the same for both.
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| Golden Sky at Dusk.. is there a rhyme for this?? |
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| That little cloud seems to be mimicking the cliff |
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| Unfortunately they had added extra salt to this meal. Maybe the way they do things in Mahia. |
On Monday we went for our drive before lunch - this time to Mahia, as opposed to Mahia Beach where we are camping. The coastline is weirdly rugged, with tilted, eroded layers of sedimentary rock. It must have really hampered any early settlers who would need ocean transport.
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| Looking back towards Gisborne |
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| Looking South |
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| So many rock faces popping up from behind the line of defence. |
The weather was pretty miserable that afternoon, so it was puzzles and reading, and an ear to the cricket, and later on a game of scrabble - Duncan won this time.
I could hear the rumble in the clouds above the hills, and all next day the sky was black and blue.
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| Our actual campsite was reasonably protected from the winds. |
I made a start on a couple of walks, but both times it started to rain and blow. Duncan was out on the golf course. A good turn-out from Poverty Bay golf club, maybe they got word of the crayfish and salad that was to follow the golf. Duncan won $5! He was very proud of the fact that he didn't loose a golfball as the course is very scrubby. One of his group lost 6!
The deckchairs seemed to be damp every time I sat on them, but I managed to write a few articles for the Wrinklies Rag. By the evening it was quite pleasant and we sat out for a while, chatted to our neighbours - it was amazing to see how busy the camping ground was, as it is off the main road.
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A steep scrubby cliff at the back of the camping ground. There's always one tree that wants to stand out.
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We were away by 9 next morning and got most things cleared out before our next trip away. It was very beneficial as a break away, and very pleasant despite the weather. (I had to wear my trackpants 3 days in a row).
