Disappointment Island!

Well there was great excitement all along the beach last night: heaps of people turned up during the early evening and set up in little groups with their chairs and their chilly-bins, some with fancy-looking cameras on tripods, and a few bonfires were lit. All were awaiting the “big reveal” as the moon rose out of the ocean and the eclipse started. We waited…
…and waited…
…and eventually realised that we weren’t going to see a THING! The moon actually rose around the corner, on the other side of a large headland! It was about 2.00 a.m. before we could actually see it above the ridge, and by then the eclipse was all over. Disappointment Island!
SO, I hear you ask, what were you doing awake at 2.00 a.m.?? Well that’s a whole other story: we were invaded by an infestation of flying insects! Goodness only knows how they were able to get in, as all the windows and vents were closed, but get in they did. And they sounded just like a mosquito as they zizzed past your ears! They looked a bit like large mozzies too, and in fact we did get a few bites, and they had us waking up regularly and reaching for the fly-spray.
So we decided we definitely wouldn’t stay another night at Rarangi, and this morning we moved on a whole 6km up the road to Whites Bay, where there is a very large DOC campsite and a lovely sheltered sandy beach. Before we left we took a track that climbs up over a set of stone steps to Monkey Bay, a pretty little shingle cove that looks out over Coudy Bay to Cape Campbell. Apparently there is a sea arch that pierces the rock beyond the bay, and although we couldn’t see it, we could hear the booms as the waves hit the opening, and see the water surging into a cave behind us.
Whites Bay is obviously a favourite with the locals, as the place was HEAVING with day-trippers enjoying the sunshine when we arrived – mostly families who set up their picnics on the beach – but despite the number of people it was surprisingly quiet. The gates to the camp are locked at 9pm, so a lot of the cars were gone by then. Also being Saturday there are families staying in tents, but rain is forecast by lunchtime tomorrow, so that should send them all home!Read more