Nearly out of fuel
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2008
1
97
147
Trip End
May 01, 2009
Matauri Bay,
North Island,
New Zealand
Monday, January 19, 2009
I hadn't quite realised how long the scenic drive detour would be and decided that, of course, I'll make it to the next town that will have a fuel station. Well not quite..
It was beginning to get dark, and according to my map there would be a cheap DOC, (Department of Conservation) camping ground at Tauranga Bay, so I headed there to discover there is no longer a DOC camping ground there. In checking my DOC north island campground booklet, it was indeed true, no campsite there.. Nuts! Should probably have checked the booklet beforehand, lesson learned.. Checking my guide book, it listed a campsite in the next bay which also sold petrol.
MB1
. Cool!! I arrived at the site and the fuel pumps were shut as was the site office. As I was looking about two guys called me over to the small fish n chip kiosk opposite the fuel pumps, a couple of Maori lads. We had bit of a chat, they they said don't stay at this campsite and they invited me down to the Maori campsite at the other end of the beach to stay with them... for a box (of beer.) They seemed like they had already had plenty of beer. A nervous moment to say the least, do I put my trust in these lads? are they genuinely offering me a place to stay or was I about to get robbed blind or something? With all these thoughts going through my mind I bought a little time by managing to make contact with the campsite manager and asked him if these guys were on the level. Yeah if you like he said, which wasn't really what I'd call a solid cast iron guarantee, but well what the hell, I thought. He didn't say no way don't do it.. So I went back to the guys and said OK, lets go..
First order of business was, of course, the box of beer. So, Layton and Lewis climbed into the van and I drove us up to the shop above the bay but it was already shut. Mmmmm... well, I said, I have a bottle of gin in the van... Now, please note here, that I am not in the habit of carrying a bottle of gin in the van in case of such emergencies
MB2
. On the contrary, I was in fact going through the New Year business of trying not to drink after the excess of Argentina and Christmas and New Year there. I had the gin because when I met the guys up at Cape Reinga they were drinking gin and juice which I had some of and had got a bit of a taste for it. Although I didn't get juice as it would have soon gone off in the van as I only have a chilly bin (cool box/esky) so I plumped for a good old GnT instead. So, my announcement of the Gin and tonic went down very well and we proceeded back down to the beach and to the Maori campsite, passed the sign saying 'No public access, Maori campsite'. All the time I was driving they were pointing out saying oh thats my uncles house or thats my cousins house. We went to what Lewis said was his house, this was a little weird, as we went in round the back and when the lights went on it looked like the house had just been abandoned, like someone was living there one day and then had left in a hurry the next day.. I have to say this was definitely unnerving and I thought oh shit this is it, this is where they're going to rob me and then drive off in my van... But no, it was cool, we cracked open the gin and poured a few drinks, this was Lewis's uncles place and for reasons I couldn't ascertain, it was now his... Ok. We didn't stay there long in the end and soon made off to the campsite.
MB3
At the campsite I was introduced to Laytons mum Karen, who was living there. The lads had grown up here and had moved away but were back visiting for the summer. So we all drank stoked up the fire and chatted shared some fish chowder that Karen had made and enjoyed the sound of the waves gently lapping on the beach and the millions of stars glimmering above, wow I thought what a setting. "If you wanna stay tomorrow bro, we'll take you fishing bro and catch us a feed.... for a box" was my invitation to stay, well I think almost indefinitely as long as the boxes kept rolling in...
Next day awoke feeling a little delicate, and discovered they had already gone fishing with an anuty who they had said they would take fishing for the day. So I sat and chatted to Karen for most of the day while we watched them out on the little rowing boat catching some fish. In preparation for my fishing trip I went and brought the box and some ciggs for Karen and got enough fuel to get me to the main road and next town. They returned later in the afternoon with a good haul of snapper and Karen set about preparing the fish and making us all a feed. Fish in breadcrumbs n chips it was nice and fresh, can it be any fresher? I cant remember what they called it but one of the female fish they cooked up the eggs in bread crumbs too and that was delicious, really creamy.
It was decided that as it wasn't too late that we would go out night fishing, so we raced to the shop and bought some bait, frozen pilchards, and got the boat out onto the water. With two of us rowing we made it out quite far in no time and settled into some fishing. Now I've never been fishing any where at any time so this was all new to me, Lewis and I had just a line with a hook on the end and Leighton had his fishing rod...
MB5
. Well after 3 hours out there I had caught absolutely NOTHING!! I could feel them nibbling and a few times thought I'd got something but most of the time I'd pull my line in and find that the bait had gone but no fish on the line.. Those fish were deff taking the p out of me for sure.. Frustratingly the Leighton and Lewis were just pulling them in, it was like they were leaping out of the water for them, including the huge one pictured that Layton pulled in. We came back to shore and Karen had been cooking up a feed again, fish head soup. I don't think I would have done it if I hadn't had the few beers we had on the boat, but the fish head is a delicacy for the Maori, you eat it all, not the bone of course but the brain and the eyes and I remember cracking open the head and sucking out the brain and trying to eat the eyeball which was solid and Karen said you don't eat that bit, just the bit around it.
Next day, the guys went out and pulled in a net they had set up before, when I woke up they were all on the beach pulling all the seaweed out of the net, more seaweed than fish. That took about 2 hours. The fish they had caught the night before they wanted to smoke and I had decided to make a move today, so they said stay around while the fish smokes and take some with me.
MB6
. Cool..So we went for a walk in the bush and collected some wood, cant remember what type now though, and made a fire in the smoker, an old upright fridge freezer with the shelves in, very effective. While it was smoking we took a walk up the other end of the beach passed the campsite and up a small hill which has a memorial to the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior on top of it. The wreck of the ship was brought here from Auckland and sunk off the coast and is now an interesting dive site. I took photos of us up there and the memorial but after we came back down my memory card had decided to delete that series of photos, hence why I don't have many photos on this entry, great!
It was time to say goodbye, it was actually quite sad, all the time I was there Karen would call me Hoani which is my name in Maori. My initial thoughs that they were just out to rob me were totally unfounded, they had been really good to me and it was great to hang out with them and man eat so much fish in pretty much all the ways you can cook it. Its definitely an experience I will not forget, their generosity didn't end. Before I left Leighton gave me a pendant of green stone, or jade as we know it, which is an important stone to the Maori and is good luck if it is gifted to you. I did say that I couldn't take it as it had been given to him on his 18th birthday and it was really too much, but he was instant I should have it. I think its mainly used as a greeting, the hongi, the pressing of noses as we shook hands and said goodbye.......
