Magical Mangawhai

One of my coworkers has a bach in Mangawhai and we were lucky enough to be invited up for a weekend at the beach. On Friday we were given half the day off so that we could take advantage of the full weekend. It was a sunny afternoon and we followed my coworker North on some back roads through rolling, green hills covered with sheep and cattle. It was some of the most beautiful country we have seen in New Zealand and reminded us of the postcards that are available in the souvenir shops.

At the end of our drive we were greeted by a rustic bach and that incredible, relaxing feeling that you can only get when you are in a quiet, small town where time seems to slow down. We spent the evening taking a walk down to the nearby estuary, drinking beer in front of a pine tree bonfire and enjoying the good company. The weather forecast had been for showers, but it was an incredibly clear night so we spent some time trying to find familiar constellations. It was the first time that we had noticed that nothing in the night sky was quite where we remember it being. Even the moon looked different, but it was hard for us to describe exactly what the difference was.

The next morning was spent wandering around the Mangawhai Saturday Market. It was a small market with a nice variety of products from puppies to organic vegetables. Across the road from the Market was the chocolate factory and whine shop where we picked up the essentials for the rest of the weekend. By the time we got back to the bach it was time for a cup of tea with freshly baked scones. After tea we went on a Tuatua (a New Zealand shellfish) hunt. We went north from Mangawhai through Mangawhai Heads and Langs Beach to just outside of Waipu. Unfortunately we turned out to be pretty bad hunters and at the end of the day we had 99 left to catch on our daily limit of 100.

After the shellfish debacle Jenni decided that she would stay home while I went out to try my luck at surfcasting. My coworker was reeling in the Kahawai one after the other, but I kept reeling in an empty hook. On the last cast of the day I caught a nice Kahawai. After fishing we went to a lovely dinner at the local restaurant, Bennetts, and another long evening around the fire. Even though it had been a busy day we felt totally relaxed and peaceful.

The success my coworker and I had with the surfcasting enticed our wives to join us the next morning, but unfortunately the luck of the previous day did not carry over. We left the beach without any more fish, but we did get some pictures of the beauty of the area. A New Zealand winter day on the beach reminded Jenni and me of summer days on the Oregon or Alaskan coast. After giving up on the fishing we ventured out to Te Arai point to take in the ocean views and look at the incredible collection of shells that get deposited there. When we returned to the bach we ate the fish that had been caught the previous day and then took our time packing for the drive back. The drive home took us through emerald green hills that were dripping in sunshine and had lambs cavorting about on them. The view made country life seem very appealing.

We returned to the farm just in time for the coldest winter storm of the year to hit. Yesterday it snowed in the Auckland CBD for the first time since 1939. None of it stuck, but it was still quite an event. We did have a brief snow shower on the farm, but most of what fell was graupel.