Maitai Bay & Waikawau Bay

On New Year's Day we travelled further north to Maitai Bay on the Karikari Peninsula. I had always known it as Matai Bay, & that is what it was shown as on an old map I had. However, a new map had it as Maitai, & that was what was on all the signage in the area. It is possibly a Wanganui/Whanganui type thing...

Anyway, we were hoping to stay at the DOC campsite. The only problem was, this campsite couldn't be booked, it was 'first in first served'.  Will & I were the first to pack up camp in the morning, so we headed directly there (bar a short ice-cream break at Cable Bay) as an advance party. It's a good thing we did, as when we arrived there were only 3 sites left in the camp. We ended up with a prime spot, easily big enough to accommodate our two rather large tents. This was another superb camp, with the beautiful bay only a couple of minutes walk away. The DOC campsites are incredibly good value, only $8 an adult per night. Perfect, as long as you don't mind cold showers...

We spent 3 very chilled nights at Maitai. This spot was much more conducive to fishing compared with Whananaki. The guys spent a lot of their time out on the kayak trying their luck. They did actually manage to catch some fish for dinner on a couple of nights. I can't believe I didn't take a photo of it! On one of the days there was a sandcastle competition which kept Georgia & Alexander busy for a while. Our last day there was a real stunner, gloriously warm & sunny.

On the 4th we set off on the long journey to Waikawau Bay on the Coromandel Peninsula. The weather was pretty awful so it was a good day to be on the road (as opposed to getting cabin-fever in the tent!). This really was a big driving day, 528km according to google maps! We stopped for a fish & chip dinner in Coromandel Town to save having to cook once we set up camp. Again, we were staying at the DOC campsite. We had booked it online the previous night (one advantage of taking my iphone camping!) & it was a good thing that we did as when we arrived they weren't taking any new bookings.

We also had a chilled 3 nights at Waikawau. The guys got some more (unsuccessful) fishing in...

 

Plus there just happened to be another sandcastle competition on during one of the days. We had stocked up on supplies at the Thames Pak 'n' Save, so enjoyed a feed of bacon, eggs, sausages & beans for dinner one night.

My friend Hiria was staying in a bach with her family at Whangapoua, about an hours drive away, so on one of the days I went for a visit. We had a nice afternoon swimming in the sea, then the best part was being able to get a lovely hot shower at her place. It felt pretty good after a week of cold ones!

The next day Will & Rich & I went back over the hill to Whangapoua. However the actual destination was New Chums beach, thought by some to be one of the best beaches in NZ. it was pretty spectacular, unbelievably crystal clear water, white sand, & fringed with Pohutakawa trees to provide some shade. Part of its appeal is the fact that you can only get to it by boat, or by a 20 minute or so walk in from Whangapoua. We had a magic day swimming, boogie-boarding & generally just enjoying the sunshine. Below are a couple of pics from my hipstamatic camera...

At one stage Rich went for bit of an explore & climbed up the hill you can see on the pic above. Here are a couple of his pics looking back down to the beach.

This one shows just how incredibly clear the water was.

We drove back to Hamilton on the 7th as the weather was supposed to pack in. Considering the forecast before we left, we had been pretty lucky with the weather whilst camping. It could have been a whole lot worse... As it happened, most of the bad stuff was on travelling days.

The Roes had another couple of nights with us at mum & dad's place. We took them for a walk around the Hamilton Gardens, pretty much my favourite place in the 'Tron.

On the 9th Will & I drove back down to Wellington so Will could start back at work on the 10th. It was a brilliant trip. Next Christmas we will be back in the UK, but I'll look forward to another big kiwi camping adventure in 2 years time...