Opotiki - Papamoa Beach

We had another great night with Noel and Judy. It was warmer in the night. Noel came home for morning tea (as the kiwifruit were wet) before we left, fueled, dumped and shopped in Opotiki and drove past Ohiwa Beach and around the harbour where we had lunch before continuing to Ohope Beach. This is a very flash beach resort with beautiful holiday homes overlooking the beach. We parked in large grassed area near the boat ramp overlooking the Ohope Harbour. We sat outside until it clouded over. It rained in the night.

Another sunny morning with breakfast outside. We followed a track to the entrance of the harbour, along the beach and then cut across the golf course to the club house with spectacular views of the Bay of Plenty.

We drove to Whakatane and walked around this lovely town, about the size of Oamaru. Another very short drive to Matata and a DOC camp on the beach. We sat in the sand hills and read enjoying the views in the hot sunshine.



It was cooler but still sunny and we drove to Pukehina Beach. We parked in an area beside the Surf Club at Dotterel Point and walked along the beach in a cool breeze. After lunch we walked the other direction to the entrance of the Waihi Estuary where the Dotterels nest.

It rained hard in the night and we shopped and dumped at Te Puke in heavy rain. We had lunch in the carpark before driving to Lynne and Gary’s at Gibson Place, Papamoa Beach. Gary parked us on the lawn in front of their house. They have a beautiful home with tropical plants and even a warm scent from them. We went for a short drive around Papamoa Beach to get our bearings.

The Americas Cup started today and we watched coverage with breakfast. It was a beautiful day and we sat outside until Glen, Tania, Sophie and Isla came around for lunch - pulled pork buns. Sophie is full on and has Gary wrapped around her little finger. Isla is a cutie and seems very happy and never cries or grizzles. Val got our sheets and towels washed and dried.

More sailing watching at breakfast time before we set out for a tiki tour of the Tauranga area.

We went up to a viewing point giving a perspective of the whole area. Amazing how many bays and inlets around.
We then went to McLaren Falls really pumping after the recent rain. Thru the city and over the bridge to Mt Maunganui where we followed a track around the Mt for about an hour.  The weather was great with warm sunshine.

 Back at “mini surfers” we sat outside at a café and had lunch before the trip along the beach back to Papamoa Beach.

Gary and I took his quad bike down to the beach and Gary fished. Unfortunately there was a lot of very frustrating weed in the water but we did catch a huge crab. Lynne and Val walked down and met us just as the sun was setting.

More sailing before we set off with Lynne to her golf course at Te Puke. We were made very welcome and played as a team (plus one) in their veterans tournament. It was a 5 club day (only 5 clubs in the bag). The course was beautiful. Very park-like with specimen trees in their autumn colours. We played not badly considering the borrowed clubs and ended 4^th equal and a meat pack each. Lynne cooked some Snapper Gary had caught earlier in the week. Delicious!!

We watched sailing again with breakfast, the last time for a while. We had a slow pack and are leaving Lynne and Gary’s today and will head to the other side of Tauranga for the night at Omokoroa Beach. Lynne & Gary will catch up with us again at the weekend in Paeroa.