New Zealand on a tight budget.Day 4

Lynden
Lynden Forum Participant Posts: 15
edited March 2017 in Your stories #1

Today was a good day. We took a leisurely drive across to Dargaville through the ridiculously pretty countryside that looks like Capability Brown designed it. We lunched at Baylys Beach where ancient Kauri trees stick out of the sand like huge black rocks. The beach is apparently longer than 90 mile beach which makes us feel better as we have decided not to go that far north - but definitely not for swimming so we spent a sunny hour or so on the shores of the Kai Iwi Lakes having a couple of swims and enjoying the bird song and scenery.
Tonight we are camped at a DOC site at Trounson Kauri Park. The Kauri trees are nowhere as big or tall as the trees we saw in America but they are absolutely up there in terms of majesty rising like pillars perfectly straight before suddenly branching with shortish thick limbs. No wonder the Maoris could make war canoes s incredibly long out of a single trunk.
They are under threat from a die-back disease so we had to disinfect our shoes before and after an hours walk through the grove right from the camp site. So many things in New Zealand are under threat. The Kiwi - which we may hear tonight - have been decimated by dogs and there are even signs saying you have to report sitings of strange fish like Koi in the water ways.
I wish you could hear the sound track . The Bell birds are chiming and the Tuis calling - its incredibly exotic.
We have just experienced a sudden downpour while eating our meal and in a hurried attempt to enter the van I slipped on the wet step and was sent sprawling full length into a puddle much to the amusement of the rest of the site! I've had to change my clothes!
Our noble vehicle is a Nissan Vanette. I have decided to call it the Bijou Vanette for historic reasons relating to a former lodger of mine whose previous land lady regularly took Bijou Snoozettes. The lodger himself was more in favour of Bijou Snackettes and I myself regularly enjoy a Bijou Jogette. Anyway, henceforth we shall refer to the Bijou Vanette as 'BV" for short. Most people round here are either sleeping in bungalows on wheels or the back of estate cars. 

Comments

  • Bakers2
    Bakers2 Forum Participant Posts: 8,192 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited March 2017 #2

    Sounds wonderful. Glad you are enjoying it. Shame you're not experiencing 90 mile beach, which isn't 90 miles 😂. But it would have to a coach trip - hired vehicles are not allowed to drive it under T&C and they take that very seriously! It's great penguins and dolphins out if the windows, drivers if the coaches can get caught out and sink so not to be trifled with. They also drive up a stream to get off and you can sandbar down massive sand dunes. Climb up us tough and the sand burning 😃.  Coaches have been specially treated and are washed down very soon after getting back onto the roads. Passengers get to have a coffee if they want and wander around a shop museum where the staircase is craved up the inside of a kauri tree.

    I think the sound scape in NZ is amazing. Our daughter lives there, almost 10 years. She married out there in an English style garden and the grasshoppers on the video are soooo loud. We awoke the morning of her wedding day by a tui singing so a very special bird for us.

    Have a fabulous time.

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