Day # 33 & 34

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3 Little Piggie’s went to market………Yes a quick visit to the Matakana Markets. Very popular market but I still think the Clevedon one is better. A stash of Dukkah and The Golden Girls fresh Natural Peanut butter and we were off to Leigh. Called in at the wharf I am sure the same guy was fishing off the wharf that was there the last time we visited. Lovely spot with not a lot of room for boaties trailers however.



Headed to Pakiri beach next, the place that has squeaky (singing) sandJ. A bit of useless information is that the sand grains need to be near spherical with no sharp edges and it also has to be recently washed and dried to achieve the squeak when you walk on it. This is a beautiful beach with nobody around. You are only allowed to access a small section as it is surround by private property (Maori Land).



Goat Island Marine Reserve was our next stop. We managed to see large snappers swimming around the rocks and a large pod of Dolphins swimming amongst a group of Divers from the Dive School. The Golden Girl was rather excited watching from the rocks, I can’t imagine how exhilarating it was for the divers. There is something quite special about this place, it has a very serene feel about it.



Heading home we called in at Mathesons Bay, Ti Point, Port Wells and of course Omaha Beach. Omaha Beach itself is magnificent. But it really is Big City meets beach here. Huge architecturally designed Baches/Houses/Mansions. I thought hard about what I would want (if I won lotto!) Decided I'm more of a Kiwiana bach type of girl. Small semi secluded Bay, right on the beach, tyre swing hanging from the tree, friends & families tents pitched on the lawn, cricket sets, kids making sandcastles on the unmanicured front lawn, fishing nets hanging out to dry, fisherman/women bringing their catch into kitchen with sand on feet, housekeeping kept to a minimum. Don’t get me wrong I love those big windows in those architecturally designed houses I just wouldn’t want to clean themJ



Day 34



Got a deal (Lance should be proud). Managed to get virtually ½ price on the Kawau Island Super Cruise for us all (www.bookme.co.nz). So this morning we headed off on the Royal Mail run to Kawau Island. The views were awesome. We even saw some dude fly over in his helicopter and land on a jetty to his home (I wonder if he won lotto?). After a few stops dropping supplies off at Vivian Bay, North Cove and Bon Accord Harbour we headed to Mansion House. Mansion House was closed and so was the café (lucky we packed our lunch!). A quick lunch then off on our walk. We are the only ones who opted to go back on the 4.30pm ferry as we wanted to walk as much as possible. We walked out to Old Copper Mine. This was one of NZ’s earliest mining ventures and was working from 1844 to 1851. It goes down approximately sixty metres below sea level. Then off around to Dispute Bay, Ladys Bay, Farmer Bay, Momona Point ending back at the Mansion. We wore the Golden Girl out and she decided to pull out a book and read in the sun while Lance and I headed up and over to Two House Bay. We sat at a picnic table at the top of the ridge and had a coffee looking down on both Mansion Bay and Two House Bay, it was pretty cool and definitely worth the climb up. Headed back to Mansion House to catch ferry, and to the delight of everyone (including a young family who missed the 2pm ferry) we managed to see a large group of dolphins frolicking in the Bay. We had an awesome day but were pleased to be heading back as the Mansion Bay sun had disappeared behind the cliffs and it was getting rather cold.

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