Weekend Getaways!
The stuff memories are made of....

We (Chris, Sonja, Niel and Ilse) recently packed up and went out to explore a bit more of the "wild" East Coast of the North Island. Riversdale Beach was home base for the weekend, From there we drove out to Castle Point and enroute passed through little, hmm, well, "villages" are the best description, cause some of the settlements in between little bigger ones had a post office, shop, church and Pub.

A 2.5 hour drive for a mere 180km trip, winding roads through mountains and valleys.

In Riversdale Beach you can go shop at the Tip Top Shop or you can shop at the Tip Top Shop, that's it. Choice, what a wonderful thing.

If you need to re-fuel, you can do it at the one pump or the other one. Good thing you don't have to drive too far to get to the other pump.

Riversdale Beach also has, yep, a Beach.

And, as expected, a Tsunami Disaster Plan. Comforting.




Yep, alas, the Golf Course. They are like South Africans in New Zealand, no matter where you go, you will always run into at least one or two wherever you go!!!

So, here's where we stayed.

Relaxing...

Dining...

and exploring the surrounds.

The wind was howling at top speeds which made for some impressive wave scenes with spray firing up.

...off to Castle Point, but we couldn't out-drive the wind. The Palm almost looks like a direction sign pointing towards the lighthouse.

Most locals were indoors, so the welcoming committee was down to this chap. We had a bit of a language barrier, though.

The Caravan & Camper park in the background.

Pretty.

The Lighthouse.

It's obvious that Castle Point must have a much larger population density than Riversdale Beach, 3 Pumps!!! The congestion, can you imagine.


More of the Lighthouse.



Still more of the Lighthouse.




I guess Castle Point is known for the lighthouse, then?

Like I said at the start, Weekend Getaways, the stuff memories are made of.