Ahipara and Koutu Point

In the morning we took Rosie on a (led) horse ride on 90 mile beach. Her horse was 7 year old Dobbie. He was very calm and gentle. The lady who ran the Horse Treks said he's her horse and he used to be a pet. Rosie did so well, she seemed a bit nervous at first but soon relaxed. And she couldn't stop smiling when we got onto the beach.
We drove to our next campsite at Koutu Point. Had a bumpy gravel road on the way which wasn't much fun, but the campsite was worth it. Beautiful views all sides of our spot in the field on the headland. Had a nice walk on the beach looking for bait for Matt (to use on the fishing rod he found at Greymouth pier). He caught a big spotty over dinner, but nothing big enough to eat. Tried to see if the Southern lights were visible once the girls were in bed, as people had seen them in Ahipara, but no luck. Beautiful sunrise and beach walk in the morning. Poppy had a good sleep in the sling whilst Rosie searched for crabs. Met a guy pulling his fishing net in and he had a variety of fish including black snapper and mullet.
Drove on to Tane Mahuta (largest living Kauri Tree in NZ, believed to be 2000 yrs old) and then a walk in the Kauri forest where the second largest Kauri tree is.
Arrived at our campsite around 2pm so had time to do the nature trail with the girls. Saw lots of eels in the river and some fellow campers were feeding them. Poppy was happily sitting up on the mat outside our campervan.
Cooked dinner in the campsite's kitchen and Rosie wanted to help with as much as she could which was lovely. The girls had lots of giggles before bed, with lots of raspberries and tickles.Read more