Port Waikato

Our night at Grahams Beach was not as restful for Bruce as it could be as our parking spot was right on the flight path for Auckland Airport. He said he would just be dropping off to sleep when another jet would go overhead and he would be awake again! Not a problem for me though. I slept well and woke well rested.

The morning was overcast but still pleasant so we took the dogs for a long walk on the beach. There was plenty of evidence here as well of storm damage with retaining walls being damaged and scoured out behind. Hard to believe when the sea looked so tame and there were several boats launching off the beach and many more fishing around the buoys in the distance.

After our walk we headed off towards Port Waikato. It’s a place we haven’t been before so we were looking forward to it.

The farmland we drove through atthe beginning of thetrip looked well cared for and prosperous. Itwas noticeable that the closer we got to our destination the poorer and more unkept was the land. The houses also started off being sited in tidy yards but the closer we got the more junk there was littered around.

The Waikato River, when wecame across it looked as dark and murky as it does in Hamilton. The bridge across it, and the bridge closest to the sea is the Port Waikato bridge.

The bridge is a two lane bridge but quite narrow, so for wide vehicles like ours it becomes a one way bridge. Thankfully there is not a lot of traffic in the area so we did not feel that we were holding people up.

We were interested to see a rather posh looking river boat oored in the river near the bridge. There were no signs of activity around it, so I am not sure if there was someone living on it or if it wasjust passing through. It seemed a strange location for it though.

The river at this point was about the same width as it is in Hamilton, but the closer we got to the coast the wider it became, until it was like a large lake at the entrance to the Tasman Sea.

There are two different parts to Port WaikatoThe coastal side is rough and rugged, similar to parts of Raglan. However, here there are large deposits of limestone lying on the beach ad extruding out into the sea. Reports are that these limestone deposits are the most likely place inNew Zealand where dinosaur fossils can still be found. We ooked closely but saw no sign of old bones! The rock formations were interesting though.

We then drove around to the other part of Port Waikato, which is the river part, before it hits the sea. This area is bordered by large, magnificent dunes, so we parked up and took the dogs for a ramble. The wind patterns on the sand were beautiful, but unfortunately the camera does not do it justice.

The beginning of the dunes walk

Time was marching on and we had to get back and find a place to spendthe nightUnfortunately there was no where in Port Waikato other than a motorcamp and reports were that they also charge per dog, so we did not want to go there. We decided to try and overnight at the Rotowaru Bush Traway, which was supposed to be apark over property for NZMCA members. However,after driving over an hour to get there, we could not get the code toopen the gateCloser inspection revealed that the lock had been vandalised at some point so we assume they changedthecode, butalso added another padlock. We had no choice but to drive back to the highway, deciding to overnight at Judy’s son’s place (Steve’s)

We got there just in time for a late dinner and a catch up with them before spending a peaceful night in the motorhome-no jets overhead!