Pakawau and Mangarakau

We stayed on at Pakawau to attend the Nelson/ Tasman NZMCA rally that was held over the weekend. What a great time we had. We met some lovely people and had loads of laughs. The gin tasting session was so good! The owner/ distiller was a really hard case.... great fun! We'll definitely call in to the distillery in Motupipi to make some purchases.
Sunday morning we departed to make our way to Mangarakau. What a wonderful discovery! The road in is in mostly great condition. There are lots of causeways on the road around the Whanganui Inlet with a picture around every corner. We saw a pair of white heron wading on the flats. This is real west coast country. Native bush everywhere and very remote living. We were surprised at how many people call this place home, with lots of mail boxes at the end of steep tracks up to houses among the bush. Farmers here must face some real challenges but most of the stock looked to be in great condition. Calving is well under way now.
Mangarakau is a fabulous place. Note this one Neil and Trish! Margaret and Paul were here to greet us after we parked on a bit of a clearing next to the beach. It's a real contrast to the east coast with lovely big waves foaming as they rolled in. The noise is impressive.
David got his finny out but despite his effort we were pleased to have a back up plan. Paul had set up a beach fire which we sat around, cooking dinner and eating toasted marshmallows until they ran out so out came chocolate fish...... who knew they were soooo good toasted!
We woke to a lovely sunrise and mild day so we explored the beach which is sandy with a big rock spit at one end and the Puturau River mouth at the other. The tide surges up the river at high tide and this the best time to catch kahawai but not for us. Just a chocolate fish....see the pic. The rock spit at the other end is just wonderful with beautifully carved pools, limestone formations, interesting stones and sandy paths through it at low tide. We were completely enchanted here.
Lots of driftwood provided building materials for beach structures, one had an entrance that featured a fire pit that looked great but I'm sure held a fair chance of destroying the creative effort!
We have been surprised by the number of people who just appear on the beach, almost all locals. One young chap arrived at dusk and joined us at our beach fire with his lovely pooch, Dawn. He was one of five builders constructing a new woodshed nearby and had brought his Dawn down to the beach for a run. He stopped and yarned for an hour and enjoyed one of our spit cooked sausages which were delicious. David loved reliving his scouting days!
This place is one of NZ's best kept winter secrets......shhhhhh let's keep it that way because apparently it's wall to wall people during whitebaiting and summer holidays.Read more