Waiuku Forest / Waikato Heads Rover Ramble

It promised to be a nice day for a ramble, so we set out with a picnic to explore Waiuku Forest. The 4 wheel drive tracks through the trees were shut off. (They are used by 4 wheel drive clubs by arrangement) There were other tracks though (rough and corrugated enough for me) that eventually ended up down near either the river or the ocean beach.

We had read about this open-cast mine that supplies the iron sands for Glenbrook Steel Mill
We were keen to have a quick look so had to engage 'low gear' to get in!


It was quite impressive. The forest trees (pine) appear to be growing in sand dunes.

Here are the views from a couple of different carparks. You can see the sea in the distance.




We found a nice picnic spot for lunch. We were kept entertained watching a family unloading their horses then setting out for a trek.

Whitianga

The First Camp!

After making a huge list; we packed everything but the kitchen sink, and set off at 8:30am, for Whitianga. The weather forecast wasn't great - it's so difficult to tell what you will actually get at this time of the year.

The Rover travelled well. It just plodded along keeping the same steady speed - up and down hills. The radio was blaring behind us, but we couldn't hear it!

It's been a while since we travelled on this highway. The Kopu bridge is almost ready and looked very impressive.



We stopped at Tairua to have a stroll and a quick lunch. Soon we were on our way again; across the hills to beautiful Whitianga.

We hadn't really explored the area on a previous visit, so we spent sometime cruising around, getting the lay of the land. We were surprised to see how big it is. Even a huge new Warehouse and Mitre 10.

Whitianga even has its own Pauanui (Waterways) complete with huge expensive-looking houses with the required large boat moored out in front. We quickly moved on - didn't want to drag their property values down!

Our next stop was the camping ground. It was nearly empty apart from caravans on more permanent sites. We were able to choose our own patch. (Girl Guide training came flooding back - we looked for a nice flat spot - nothing worse than blood rushing to the head - or a wobbly stretcher!) Unfortunately the bit about putting the rear of the tent into the wind had to be relearned by experience.

The Rover setup worked well. It was great being able to boil the electric jug and make toast. The fridge worked off the battery while we were running, or could be plugged in to electricity. It was large enough to be very useful. Our cooking set up with a gas burner worked well.

I'm still learning to love the tent! It's flimsy and bendy - give me good old canvas and wooden poles any day! Every time the wind gusted the side stove in until Doug used extra poles, guys and pegs to make it more rigid.

Saturday dawned cold and the weather was now coming in the front. We really needed to turn the whole contraption around.

At 5 o'clock in the afternoon Doug mused that if we went home now, we could be back in Auckland before dark. Own bed and hot bath were great temptations!

That's what we did.