Friday evening, 27th September. My jaunt up to South Head unfortunately ended in frustration. The road I followed for 34km turn to a private road just 2km from the sea. At the end of the road was a footpath which ran in a dead straight line down the hill to Mosquito Bay The way down was straight and steep. I noticed that someone had taken the trouble to build three ‘rest’ benches in its short length. The beach was pleasant enough. There were certainly no mozzies there, but presumably come summer that changes. I climbed the hill at the far end of the beach, but still couldn’t get the view I need across the harbour entrance. On my way back up I stoically pushed straight past the benches; I need to get my fitness up for a walk I have to do once I go down south. Yesterday, as I was going around Tapora I’d looked at a small council reserve. It was on a ridge top and really nice. It was a bit exposed and cool at this time of year, but in a couple of months it will be fine. Today I tried ‘Shelley Beach’. This too is an option for me in the summer, when all the ‘holiday’ (i.e. beach) campsites are full. It even has a café and a mobile signal. I asked the lady at the café about a road I’d just passed… and she assured me that it did indeed lead to the west coast. ‘Just go through the gate’ she said. After 15 minutes I arrived at a closed gate with a sign saying ‘No Trespassing’. Maybe you can go through if you’re a local, but I’m not. So I turned around again. Never mind, there’s still Rimmers Road… which did take me to the coast in approximately the right latitude for Tasman on 31st Dec… but it’s not at all ‘scenic’. I’ll need a good summer’s day for that post. I’ll have to go to Pouto for a view across the Harbour. I knew I might regret not going there, but it’s a fairly safe bet for me to do without a prior visit. Pouto is tiny, and off the beaten track. There’s only one campsite there, and though that doesn’t give me the view I need, a walk of a couple of km’s gets me to the old lighthouse that looks straight over the Harbour entrance. I can’t drive up that beach... perhaps if I had a motor bike… There are four wheel drive tours you can take; that may do me. There’s an additional reason to consider the 4WD tour. It’s run by a good mate of Gordons (from the Dargaville museum), and he is the guy that actually found the Portuguese wreck. After a lot of driving around today I pulled into the Muriwai campsite around 5:00. I dashed to the end of the campsite to look for the hill that should be ‘Kohekohe Pa’ and there it was, just 20 minutes down the beach. I’d seen it many times before, but never recognised it as a Pa. Now, as I looked, it was obvious. There wasn’t time today, but I’ll walk up it tomorrow morning. It’s really exciting because I know this Pa site was occupied when Tasman went past, and who by. This Pa has a clear 180 degree view of the ocean, and at its height, 166m, the horizon is 46km out to sea. They can see him. Looking at the maps I have I can get there by driving to the end of the golf course; then on foot to a forestry road, which gives me a bridge over a little river, along a kilometre, and then… up. From the beach it’s double the height of Whiria Pa. Anyway, that’s tomorrow. Today I’m on the Muriwai Campsite. It’s all very nice clean and orderly. Being fairly close to Auckland it also has ‘Bonnie-Doon’-ers… That’s how I worked out it was Friday. They seem the same types as at Piha; permanent caravans, with huge awnings, patios, flower pots, lights… and always a rum and coke. I’m glad to be here at Muriwai. Parakai had ‘Bonnie-Doon’-ers too; except the feeling there was quite uncomfortable. On that campsite there were four of we ‘visitors’, the rest were permanent. It was more ‘trailer park’ than campground. Sure, the caravans had picket fences, and decks, but these were in sore need of a good tidy up. The fences hadn’t been fully upright in 20 years, and their owners looked the same. There was back yard junk all over the place and the sign on an old bus saying ‘Warning, Guard Dog’ didn’t look a bit out of place. Everything that opened and shut had a padlock on it. Parakai had everlasting hot water, but I didn’t like the rest of it. It’s the only campsite I’ve been on where I locked the door when I went to the toilets. I won’t be going back there. Here at Muriwai I’ll go to bed listening to a proper ocean roar again, and… oh yes… when I open the curtains in the morning, I will be looking straight at the beach, not a Rottweiler. Parakai campsite -36.659354,174.432273 Muriwai campsite -36.828124,174.428784 Parakai to Muriwai route goo.gl/maps/fwCTh Goodnight all.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 10:33:47 +0000
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