Friday morning we took advantage of the walkways around Whangaparoa – they are everywhere. We found some which took us down to the sea, and then along to a lookout to the north. Eventually we made it back to the RSA carpark. By this stage we’d decided we wanted to have a swim, so we headed back along the Peninsula to Little Manly Beach. It was deserted, maybe appropriately for 11:30am on a Friday morning. After a quick change, it was into the water before we could change our mind. The water wasn’t cold, but did require a bit of determination. It was certainly refreshing 🙂
From a dip in the sea on the East Coast, we were off to the West Coast, heading across to Kaukapakapa. Nev the Nav claimed there were unsealed roads involved, but there weren’t. It got a bit exciting when we almost ended up on the motorway to Auckland, but we managed to avoid that trap. It was a lovely drive across country, until a truck going the other way threw up a rock that thudded into the front of Suzi somewhere. I thought it had hit the luton, but once we stopped it had only made a small dent in the front above the grill. But it was lucky really, as it alerted us to the luton vent having been sucked open. It was my fault for forgetting to clamp it closed properly. How the whole thing never got sucked away I’ll never know. The blind got a bit scrunched, and that’s all. So the stone was a warning. It wasn’t far on to Kaukapakapa, and the Kaukapakapa Store. My Dad had owned it back in the 1930s or 1940s, and I’d never been there before, so it was an interesting experience. It didn’t look like it had changed much, but the photos on the wall said the original store burned down in 1943 and the current one was a temporary one erected to replace it.
Then it was on to Helensville and stocking up at the supermarket. we headed on to Parakai, where there are hot pools and where my cousins Jill and Kevin live. We pulled up by the hot pools for a late lunch, and in my case an afternoon snooze. Then we worked out that the camping ground was next door so moved in there. We set up, and sat outside and enjoyed a beer, and made contact with Kevin. Jill was out, and Kevin suggested dinner at the pub across the road from the camping ground. So we did, it was a lovely meal. We went back around the corner to Kevin and Jill’s place for a port and a catch-up, Jill was back by then. It was quite a lot later by the time Kevin dropped us back at Suzi, and a nice cool night.
