On Auckland anniversary weekend we made our way to Whatipu camping grounds with our flatmate Eva and her partner Josh. Its a nice little camping site close to walks, the beach and some caves.
There was a morning I couldn't sleep last week so I took the opportunity to start work early and I took this lovely photo from the work lunch room.
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| Sunrise over Auckland CBD |
Bit off topic but the Lawn is coming along nicely at home, here's the latest. We plan to have a bit of a herb garden in the raised garden area now and already have a few herbs in there.
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| The Woolgro Lawn Progress |
Whatipu is only an hour from our place but it is like being in the middle of nowhere. No cell reception (which can be a good thing...)
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| Whatipu Map |
We stopped off at the little township Huia for a coffee and a snack before heading to the campsite. We saw some fishermen trying to hall in a net and then watching them panic as one escaped. This place looked even more appealing at high tide on the drive home.
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| Huia |
The weather was magnificent the entire time. Josh and Eva went over on the Friday evening and set everything up, we came over Saturday afternoon after Kate finished some work. The tent is relatively new and was great for sleeping 4 people with plenty of room. We might have to get a tent like this to save money and do budget holidaying until the wedding... If i get the same one it can join up together to make a larger space.
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| Campsite and Hill We Climbed the Next Day |
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| Campsite and Tent |
The campsite is very basic, consisting of 3 long drops and 2 cold water showers.We had to bring our own water as the water onsite is not safe for drinking. The Saturday we arrived was spent relaxing at the campsite for a while then we decided to head to the beach.
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| Black Sand Beach |
The sand is black so everyone in jandels were running around like crazy cause of the heat. The beach was lovely and the water warm. We built a chair and table in the sand - sorry no photo for that one but it was pretty good and use able!
After relaxing on the beach for a few hours, we headed back for a nap, burgers for dinner, marshmallow / nutella / peanut butter toasties then some card games at dusk. Josh has all the camping gear including a gas cooker so it made it really easy for us.
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| Sunset Saturday Night at Campsite |
On Sunday we climbed the hill and the ridge to the lookout from the first tent photo. Didn't take that long and we spent a while at the top taking loads of photos. It is such a great view.
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| A View From the Top and the path to the Second Lookout |
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| Paratutae island |
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| Together at the Top |
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| Panorama at the Top 1 |
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| Panorama at the Top 2 |
After a few photos and relaxing we walked down to another viewing point for some more photos.
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| View From the Lookout |
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| Another View From the Lookout |
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| The Black Sand Beach and Broken Rock |
We then made our way back down to the campsite and more beach time.
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| A View of the Campsite |
At the beach we went out to some rocks close to shore and picked about 60 muscles for dinner. They were pretty good and we were surprised they weren't over farmed at all... Loads to pick. after dinner we played some more card games.
Monday we packed up the equipment and went for a short walk to the Whatipu caves.
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| One of the Many Large Caves |
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| Josh and Eva walking back |
After that we headed home around midday and there was a nice surprise for us left by one of the cats, most likely Ruby....
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| Ruby's Rat |
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