Today’s plan is to
head further down the Northland east coast to the DOC freedom campsite at
Uretiti on Bream bay.
On leaving Russell
yesterday’s sunshine is replaced by a grey overcast day and we speedily make
our way through Whangarei with a short stop to look at the waterfall.
Impressive falls |
On approaching Uretiti
Beach the DOC campsite looks pretty full, but no matter as our plans have
changed anyway. Mrs M has been reading
the big guide book and has seen that nearby Waipu is a little Scottish enclave
and we decide to head there for a mooch about.
On entering the town
we park under the Tsunami Alert warning sign and as we switch the engine off we
are greeted by a loud air-raid type alarm!
Not wanting to be alarmist but somewhat surprised we decide to do what
the locals do and just act normal.
Minutes later the Fire engine screams past us and we read the small
print on the sign that says the Fire emergency alarm is also the Tsunami alarm
but just a different tone. Phew!
We then head into a
lovely café, fully decked out in tartan, for a spot of carrot cake and some
tea. We then head past the Caledonian
Park
Just a flavour of Waipu Scottishness |
(home of the WaipuAnnual Highland Games) and into the town Museum. The Museum is fascinating and tells the story
of Norman McLeod who left Scotland in 1817 and came to New Zealand via Nova
Scotia, Cape Town, Melbourne.
The Route |
The towns people are
still proud of their Scottish heritage and we spoke to the nice ladies at the
Museum about some of their family history and their own visits to the UK.
Its then off to check
into the campsite and a quick bit of jumping in the rather cold waves on BreamBay.
Looks like Arran in the background ! |
Mr M
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