Today turned out to be a bit more drama than intended. I woke nice and early and after breakfast put a load of washing on so that I’d have everything clean before the trip. Then I set about cleaning up, packing away and battening down. When I was nearly ready to go I nipped back to the laundry to put my washing in the dryer… but someone had beaten me to it. It’s a really good value for money dryer the one at the campsite... by that I mean, it runs for ages. I’d have to delay leaving a bit. I was giving someone a lift as far as Ngatea (just before Thames) so I had to tell him we’d be leaving a bit later. An hour later I got my stuff in the dryer, took down the antenna, and satellite dish, disconnected the power and put all that stuff away, threw in my dried washing and then it was time to go… except it didn’t… go… the engine that is... I had a flat battery. I must have left the radio turned with the volume down. I rustled up a charger and started charging, but my van engine starter is 24 volt. That means it uses two 12 volt batteries to turn the engine over… so I had two batteries to charge! Anyway, we got underway at last, 1:15, quite a bit later than I’d planned. I swung out of the campsite and pulled into the first layby. Jumping back into the van I picked up the salt and pepper set that had shot off the shelf, shoved them in a drawer, and started out again. It was raining on and off all the way, but fortunately for Sid it was dry when I dropped him on the side of the road where he was getting picked up. I rolled on over the new Kopu bridge, and into Thames keeping an eye out for a battery place, but unfortunately I didn’t see one. I wanted someone to test the batteries to see if I’d just run them flat or they needed replacing. I was mindful that time was moving on so instead of searching out a battery place in Thames I pressed on up to Coromandel. The road all the way up that coast is absolutely stunning. It runs tight alongside the sea and I spent most of the time looking out across the sea in the general direction of Auckland. This would normally have been a hazard, but there was virtually no traffic past Thames. In Cormandel I filled up with fuel (it’s the last petrol station in the direction I am going) and did some shopping for essentials; milk, bread, cream, pate, hot cross buns, chicken cordon bleu, etc. At the petrol station I’d asked the nice young lady how long it would take to get to Fantail Bay. I wanted to know if I’d get there before dark or if should stay nearer Coromandel for the night. She thought about 20-30 minutes, so I’d have plenty of time to get there in the light. I was surprised it was so close as I thought it looked further on the map. The road along the coast is beautiful, and empty and I enjoyed every moment of it. After Colville (now the closest shop) it was deserted. As I got further from Thames, Coromandel and Colville the road got progressively narrower, more twisty, and even closer to the sea. For most of the time was the only thing between me and the ocean (apart from a big drop) was the nearly continuous row of pohutukawa trees clinging to the cliff edge. Two hours later I pulled into the DOC campsite at Fantail Bay. I think the girl at the petrol station must have confused it with another campsite, but it didn’t matter... it was a nice run. I parked up, and went back into the van and picked up the cheese, butter, cream, sausages etc from the floor and put them back into the fridge. I’d forgotten to re-lock the fridge door after stocking up in Coromandel and the winding road had freed its contents. No sooner had I arrived than the owner of the only other van here waved me over for a chat. I’ll call him Goerge. He told me all about the place, and the next two campsites, and was effusive. He and his wife (if he’s ‘George’ then that would make her ‘Mildred’ I guess) had been out fishing and had a spare couple of fresh snapper for me if I wanted them. It was very kind, and quite tempting, but I really didn’t want to fillet and then cook the fish in the van… I’d never get the smell out (I noticed that George and Mildred had an outside BBQ). The DOC ranger showed up and joined in the conversation. As he left he reminded me that I needed to fill in the booking form, probably, at some stage, but there was no hurry, tomorrow would be just fine, or the day after. When he’d gone George told me that if I fill in the form then the Ranger has to type it into his computer… which he hates. So I’d be doing him a favour if I ‘forgot’ to do it. I like it here, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it in the sunshine. I’ll probably go further up tomorrow. There are two more campsite on this coast, Port Jackson and Fletcher Bay. One is nowhere, where the road ends, and the other is halfway to nowhere. Both look great. If for some reason I don’t like them then I can always come back here… I’ve got to come back this way anyway… it’s the only road. I don’t know how long I’ll stay in the area, but will have to leave when either my milk runs out or the bread goes stale... or I run out of something else critical, like chocolate. The campsite here at Fantail Bay is gorgeous. I am (quite precisely) here. goo.gl/maps/ck3c4 I’m parked in a grove of Pohutukawa’s that would be really good shade in the summer, looking straight down onto the sea. I’m about 50m from the water, with the ‘road’ in between. Most people would recognise it as a farm track rather than a road, and it goes to no-where, except to the next campsites… so there absolutely no traffic. Since I arrived there hasn’t been a single vehicle go past. The waves here make a good firm sloshing sound as they hit the stony shore and wash back through the rocks and will be good to go to sleep with that tonight. That’s it from me for today, I’m tired now; bedtime. I’ve added a few photo’s but the light wasn’t very good for pictures today; I’ll post some more tomorrow. P.S. This post comes courtesy of my new antenna (I’ll take a pic’ in the morning). There was no internet connection without it. Goodnight all.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 09:56:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015