Waihi Surfing

To Waihi Beach, New Zealand

It took us a little while to figure out the plan for today -- go north towards Hahei Beach, find a beach close to our current spot, Tairua, or start heading south toward Waihi and Rotoroa. In the end, plan C won the day. Hopefully, if we got to our destination early enough, we could claim one of the dozens of free campsites along the way. Generally, only a handful of parking places in designated parking lots are reserved for "freedom" (free) camping. One requirement is that your camper be completely “self contained.”  Fortunately, both our vans have the required sticker, although in our case, there is no portable toilet and with the dead battery, no water, lights or refrigerator.

The town of Tairua

Etienne had gotten the name and number of a couple from Switzerland that was now living in Waihi Beach. He called earlier in the day and arranged to meet the woman, Ines (pronounced Eneese) at her chocolate shop, Chez Moi. The shop was small but contained a delicious array of gourmet chocolates -- lemon, coconut, caramel, ginger, chili, peanut, mint, passionfruit ….  Etienne and Anne were overjoyed to meet people from the same small village where they live in Switzerland. Ines and her partner, Adrian, explained that they had traveled to New Zealand a few years ago and fallen in love with the land. They had filled out the residency paperwork and spent nine months living here before they were suddenly approved for residency.

After stocking up on chocolates, we found a free campsite, a parking lot by the beach. Adrian and Etienne went to town in search of surf boards and came back an hour later with three: a small, medium and large one. The kids rushed out to the beach to try their hand at surfing, first getting instructions from the Pfyffer's who had recently taken lessons in Australia. When they tired of the waves, Meg, Etienne and I gave it a try. Etienne was definitely the best, perhaps due to his recent lesson in Australia (or his years of kitesurfing).

The delightful couple from Switzerland, Ines and Adrian stopped by after work to join us for a few beers and some pasta, courtesy of Anne. Manu, a friend from back home who had just arrived for a visit, played tackle basketball with the kids. He was a great sport claiming that the excessive exercise would be good for his jet lag.

Adrian

Ines

Manu