27/09/2018 - Visiting old acquaintances

In the past few days, we took it relatively easy. It's no wonder that camping feels like a Sunday every day. You start the day leisurely, take a shower and have a hearty breakfast, and the rest of the day's planning, well, that usually happens spontaneously. Sometimes we played table tennis in the morning, sometimes we did laundry, and in the evening we had a festive meal, even though it was only Wednesday.

We invested more and more time in selling the car. The first contacts were made; the engine coolant was filled up (for the first time), and a workshop appointment was made for the upcoming "Warrant of Fitness" (= New Zealand's MOT).
But mainly, we enjoyed the hours of sunshine, visited Sunday markets, took beach walks on "Orewa Beach" before heading to the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island a few days ago. The "Muriwai Beach" and its black sandy beach remained in very good memory from our first visit (beginning of December 2017). Its dimension, the luxurious campsite (including mosquitoes...) and above all, the resident gannet colony impressed us. We visited the colony several times, of course. When we returned to the place, we felt the same sense of freedom as back then - just driving there and staying where you like. And we definitely liked it here! Hard to believe that we will have to leave all this behind soon... But we didn't want to think about that. At least not yet. ;) Instead, we preferred to enjoy the fantastic scenery: the high cliffs, the countless birds, the vast sea, and the seemingly endless beach. A panorama that invites you to dream. Up here, you forget everything around you and live in the here and now - in this moment! And that's why this place fascinated us and still does.

Compared to our last visit, not too many gannets from Australia had arrived yet. And yet there was plenty to observe because the birds were in the midst of the dating phase. The couples were visibly trying to build a suitable nest for their offspring. The magnificent seabirds flew over us again and again, returning with a beak full of dry grass and sticks. - A few gannet couples had already found each other, completed the nest building, and were busy incubating their eggs.
There is never any peace on-site. In addition to the gannets, another bird colony had settled on the steep cliffs. A smaller species of seagulls made themselves comfortable here when they were not busy flying around. ;)

Otherwise, it is becoming increasingly clear to us that our road trip through New Zealand is slowly but surely coming to an end. Our food supply box is soon as empty as it was at the beginning of the adventure. The few long-lasting delicacies that were still in it determined our menu. So we used flour and sugar for pancakes, Arborio rice for rice pudding with applesauce and cinnamon, and potatoes and eggs for "hoppel-poppel".