I'm taking you on holiday.....

After Rachel and Michael got married, we decided to drive north and look for hot sunny days and beautiful beaches. This is what we where after.....

Otamure Bay

And this is what we found. Come with me and I'll show you some of the best places to visit.....

Our holiday started off with quite a beachy theme to it, and it stayed hot and the beaches were all sun-drenched the whole holiday. We couldn't believe our luck.
We started our paddling at Lake Taupo and were surprised by just how warm the water was, it's usually very cold.

Lake Taupo

Then after the wedding at Whatipu Beach, we drove north to Owera where we stayed for a night. It's a long stretch of open beach and well used as it's very close to Auckland.

Orewa Beach

Then we found Otamure Bay. It's about 40kms north of Whangarei past Whananaki North on the East Coast.

We stayed in the DOC (Department of Conservation) run camp ground, which had running water on tap, cold showers and long-drop toilets. There was a motor camp at Whananaki North, but the DOC camp was so much nicer. They charged $8 per night which we considered a pretty good rate.

We set up our little tent, and Mr M&M got right down to business of catching up on all the news of the world.

The beautiful little bay is typical of beaches in Northland. It was a stunner, with a lovely sandy beach and was very safe to swim at.

Otamure Beach at low tide

 When the tide was right out, you could dig for pipis in the sand, but you needed to wade out into the sea until you were about thigh deep. Some of the campers were collecting them to eat. At high tide the fish come in and feed from the pipi beds. Some of the campers were fishing at night off the beach and catching snapper. 

Tauwhara Bay

What amazes me with Northland beaches, is that around every rocky outcrop, there is another little bay almost exactly the same. I climbed over the rocks at the south end of Otamure to find this little bay with 2 small baches on it. The baches along the beaches are usually only used during the summer months as a place to holiday. Sometimes you can find them on websites like Book a Batch.

And this little bay was just over the hill for Whananaki. It was a privately owned farm but the farmer let people camp by the beach, for a small fee.

We camped at Otamure Bay for the whole time, and spent our days walking along the beach, climbing over the rocks, and swimming. Early each morning there was a lot of seaweed washed up on the beach in a range of pretty colours.

Then  one night we had a wee duck visit our tent, asking for bread.

How could you say no? He came early every morning and each evening for a piece of bread, much to the disgust of the seagulls who were ever watchful and ever hopeful.

 And last things each night we went for a stroll down the beach, chatted to the men who were chancing their luck with a fishing rod, and enjoyed the moonlight.

Are you still with me?
I'll be back soon with some more beautiful beaches.

Carole x