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Published: January 22nd 2010
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First night camping
We found some flowers, and couldn't resist... First of all I’d like to let everyone know that the dates are wrong on the pictures. I need to figure out that setting and either change the date or just do away with it altogether. Those photos are real and I did take them myself, and if I didn’t then they were taken by Lenny. I know it’s hard to believe!
Once we finally got our car after much anticipation, we hit the first road out of town. Ahhhhhhh! (that is a sigh of relief in case you were wondering although a scream of terror is not completely unthinkable) Liberation doesn’t come close to describing the rush of emotion running through the inner tubes of that little blue 1989 Mazda Cappella on that evening. From there, the three of us, were free to roam about the country.
We wanted to drive forever but instead, we decided to stay at the first campground we came to. It was about twenty minutes out of town to the Southeast. We arrived with enough light to set up camp and eat just before the sun set. We ate potato gnocchi in pasta sauce with fresh mushrooms, green onions, and shredded cheddar cheese
Hey hey...out on the road!!
New car drives great, for a '89! on top. My mouth is watering just talking about it. To accompany that we had some of the finest wine to be found of the North Island of New Zealand, I forget the name of it but it came in a box. That’s how you know you’ve found quality. This campsite was very impressive for being in the middle of nowhere. There were no mountains, no rivers, no beach but it had excellent facilities for waste water, recycling, and was equipped with a laundry room, kitchen, and full shower and bath. Wow!! We were befriended by a great little creature of the feline kind. We made sure she chose the right people by feeding her a generous bounty. I think she knew we were new to the country so she took it upon herself to make sure we felt at home.
We made sure we got to bed early that night because the next day was going to be full of wine tastings with new friends Craig and Sarah. They wanted to show us but I believe they were hunting for a good excuse go themselves, and who’s to blame them?
We awoke early, not long after the
This must be the place
This is our first campsite in New Zealand, full recycling center, friendly cat, playground with swings and trampoline, beautiful sunset. sun rose, and made a quick breakfast so we could get on the road and not keep Craig and Sarah waiting. We were in the greater Auckland area in the Kumeu Wine Region. The day was full of good wines, beautiful scenes, and really nice, fun people. Our favorites were Soljorn Winery where we had our first “Pinotage”. This wine is made from grapes that only come from New Zealand and South Africa. We are pretty sure this is right.
The other favorite was Westbrook. Wow!! They not only had the best view, but also the best Chardonnay, by far! We were thoroughly impressed with the first tour of New Zealand wines and we had a blast with our new friends.
From here we ventured West to the coast where we were told there was a place to camp. We were not told that Muriwai beach was going to be one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever seen. As we pulled up to the large campground, it was as if two giant trees were waiting for us to come and be right in between them. We set up camp and since we were quite full from tasting
wine all day, we ate some bread and cheese and hit the beach for sunset. I hope the photos do justice to the view we had during dusk of that day…. Thanks to God or Allah or Buddha or Jah for putting that sky and those colors together!
We were told that we should check out the Bay of Islands so onwards and upwards. We drove for about three or four hours North towards the Northernmost tip of New Zealand. Farmland flatness turned into mountains that shot out of the sea as we passed by and gained altitude. We ended up in Pahia and camped by a river. We went on a hike around sunset and got another early night in, because the next day we had big plans……. Tune in next time to find out what lies ahead of Lenny and Joe’s big adventure.
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martha
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an excellent adventure
we are so loving following you two around....beeee safe my loves.