June 2026

It's been a really busy June for us, thus far, as we head for Northland and the 'Winterless North'.
We had a night in Whanganui at a POP just out of the town. It was quite rural, only space for one and not suitable for caravans. We felt right at home and enjoyed chatting to the house sitters. We drove to Cambridge, after an a night at the NZMCA park in Otorohanga and ,as usual, loved our stroll around the town and it's shops. The Raceway was a great place to stay and the weather was very mild so a pleasant time again.
The drive to Ardmore Airport was awful! Very heavy rain meant massive road spray that reduced visibility and made we two, from Hicksville, very nervous travelers especially when the local 'expert' drivers showed their antics to us!!! We put our wet weather coats on and walked the complex around the airport to shake off the stress of the drive.
It was wonderful to spend time with Pauline and Jerry and my other girl cousins, Lou and Julie, at P and J's lovely Beach Haven home. We loved the chance to explore the beach area there, something we'd not done during previous visits. Such a pretty area!
We drove to Puhoi, after a wonderful night with David and Sara and and their lovely children and Angela. It's been way to long for that catch up.
Puhoi is just lovely! We spent a morning exploring it and learning of it's history and deeply religious, Catholic, foundations. It's the quaintest little place and the pub offers a POP in their parking area.
AND then we found the East coast and beaches. Snells Beach, Martins Bay, Sandspit, gave us a brilliant taster of what was to come.
We spent 3 nights at a POP just out of Matakana and explored the area as we waited for the markets, in town, on Saturday. Omaha, Point Wells, Warkworth, where we went for a walk, Buckleton Beach, the protected ruins of the old cement works and the boat yard beside, all provided us with wonderful experiences from gorgeous beaches with fabulous views to friendly locals and a perspective of the history of the area. The Matakana Market was a culinary feast. It is not a Farmers Market so not much in the way of produce. If you wanted breakfast, lunch or something for dinner all the delicious morsels were really tempting.
Moving North we found Mangawhai and that's where we started thinking we needed to learn more superlatives! We discovered Langs Beach, Waipu Cove and Uretiti. All three connected and absolutely fabulous. We preferred Uretiti for it's undeveloped and unpopulated state but all offered beautiful fine sandy beaches, tepid water and it was a really warm day. We loved the walk down Omaha beach and back along the manicured boardwalk. Some massive homes, with incedible views line the way. The Car Park home from NZ Grand Designs is found here and honestly it's quite modest looking compared to many others here. Lots of pou can be found here too.
We dragged ourselves to the next park up at Marsden Bay in a council operated free parking space. There are loads of these around and we're impressed by them. There's usually space for 3 to 6 motorhomes, not longer than 6M, we cheated, with a limit of a one night stay. All of them have toilets that are maintained by the council. QLDC could learn something for sure!!!!! Right beside this is the channel into the nearby marina and we were entertained by the constant stream of boats/vessels returning from a day out fishing. We've never seen anything like it.....SH1!
The following morning we wandered around the Marsden Bay marina and housing development. The homes and boats which are berthed in front are next level! Absolutely smacked of the rich and famous! There's a lock for the boats to get in and out of their berths, to the sea channel. First lock we've seen in NZ.
Our next stop was at Manganese Point NZMCA park where we witnessed a fairly good sized shark breaching twice. It was an impressive sight! Kiwis live in the bush surrounding this park but we didn't get to see them but that night we slept with the window and skylight open so that we could hear them and observe the incredibly bright Milky Way. And no, we weren't cold.
The following day, after mundane chores were completed, we found a lovely wee bay, Wellingtons Bay, The cute little beach has been restored after a hammering from cyclone Gabrielle. We stayed, again, in one of the council parks here as we did the next night in Sandy Bay. On our way to Sandy Bay we called into Matapouri Bay where went for a wander up the headland to the lookout to Whale Bay. Lots of steps, steep at times, but we were rewarded with gorgeous views. A few pou in this area too.
As of this morning our plans have changed a bit. David's cousin, Karen, rang and told us she was going to be away for all of next month so we have decided to head West and catch up with her at her home near Matakohe. We'll go up the West Coast to Cape Reinga and then to the Bay of Islands.Read more