Tag Archives: doc

Day 40 – Good bye Douro

We had a lovely morning at the camp site and before we left we even got to chat to the owners one more time. Number 3 patted more dogs and then hung out on the swing for a while.

To make this trip east worthwhile, we decided to keep going for one more hour until Pinhão. It’s the second city in the region called Alto Duoro, the first one being super touristy. Now, we were in the wine region proper, even if we didn’t spot Graham’s vineyards. We did however see Sandemann and Taylor’s name pop up in the landscape.

I think granite formations are becoming my new favorite after …

Pinhão was “on the wrong side of Rüdesheim” to speak in Flo’s terms. Very touristy still, quite pricey and really just our point to say goodbye to the river Douro. It was lunch time though so we sat down to have an underwhelming, expensive meal somewhere at the riverfront (Flo: I know codfish is a national institution, but dry, overly salty grilled “cod-loin” is nothing to recommend).

From here on, we go north until, eventually, we leave Portugal and enter Spain again, in a couple of days. After lunch, we drove towards a camp ground on the other side of the Parque natural do Alvão. The park was super pretty again and we were glad to have come that way.

When we left again around 4pm, we found another cute café in Mondim de Basto to have pastel de nata. Again. We have to have them a couple more times before we leave. 🙂

Afterwards, we looked for the camp ground. It took us a while to find the signs leading us there as the navigation was no good in this case. The Quinta do Rio was probably the closest we have come to a DOC camp site on this trip. And we had it all to ourselves, no other guests had made their way here. Setting up our roof tent with a lovely view onto the river, we were wondering why. Is it because power is limited to solar energy and thus big camper vans are not allowed? Or simply the fact that you have to actively look for it to find it? Or is it too rustic for European tastes?

  • True hospitality for the whole family
  • Hmm, lemons fresh from the garden …
  • The road went up an down …
  • … allowing for some great vies of the valley
  • cool statue 😉
  • Almost gone …
  • the vinyards contiue far past the Douro valley, though
  • I think granite formations are becoming my new favorite after …
  • … so much limestone on our big trip
  • A little reservoir high up in the park
  • hmmm … I almost look human again after the Porto haircut (and some pastries)
  • he ate almost the whole thing …
  • Keeping wee one from stepping right in
  • I tried to force him to go barefoot again but stopped after stepping into thorns 10 seconds in …
  • just us – I mean even “full” this would be a great site
  • The pool was a spring fed old trough …
  • … just perfect for number 3 to explore

Day 11 – Far North

It was raining when we woke up. Not just a bit of rain but pouring down once more. Luckily, we slept in a room in a backpacker and avoided the storm that night. However, the rain combined with Flo’s successful attempt of using his mobile phone as a hot spot meant that we had a very late start.

Details of the carvings on the bow of the wakas.

Details of the carvings on the bow of the wakas.

And then we only drove a kilometre to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Much of it is a construction site at the moment with big signs announcing a museum to be opened in February 2016. This made me wonder if the original treaty which is in the National Archive in Wellington at the moment will see a return to the town it is named after.

We took some time at the grounds. Instead of a cultural performance, we decided to have a guided tour around the grounds. After having lived in Wellington for three years, we knew most of the facts. I still enjoyed it though.

One and a half hours of walking around were enough for Flo’s leg as well so we just wanted to get some mileage down towards the North.

During a particularly intense downpour, we took a wrong turn and had to retrace our steps which annoyed Flo quite badly. So we only had a short lunch break at the roadside and then were off to Cape Reinga.

Closeup LighthouseRiding towards Cape Reinga really gives you a land’s end feel. It is beautiful and wild. At some point, even the farmland stops and you just drive through wild, hilly land.

We arrived at the Cape when the sun was already low so it looked amazing. I took way too many pictures of its silhouette. In Maori mythology, it is quite the special, spiritual place. It is the place were two oceans meet or actually flow against each other and form swirls.

Luckily, the DOC campsite that we are staying at tonight was just around the corner.

 

 

 

Day 9 – Feels like holidays

Our night found an abrupt end as the alarm clock went off on Flo’s mobile phone. For once, it was switched on overnight and thus reliably woke us at 6.30am.

Lucky chance that the alarm woke us up

Lucky chance that the alarm woke us up

Instead of going right back to sleep, I had a look outside. The sun was just about to rise so we scrambled out, right onto the beach and watched the sunset for the first time on this trip.

After an extended breakfast with sunshine and wifi, we only had a short ride into the Puhoi Valley. Another couple on the campground had recommended the cheese factory there. And yes, it was worth the stop. They even make their own ice cream and won several prizes for it. It was absolutely d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. I could have rolled around in the chocolate ice cream.  🙂

The effect of the award winning Puhoi ice cream on the commen Homus Ninasiensis

The effect of the award winning Puhoi ice cream on the commen Homus Ninasiensis

We also bought three different cheeses for the road as they all looked so good. If you happen to pass Puhoi, I can thoroughly recommend it as well. They offer a deal for visitors (who are not on a budget): Grab one of the picnic baskets with a blanket, fill it with cheeses, crackers and chutneys, order drinks from the café and then just go outside to the picnic area and enjoy the food and sunshine. That sounds amazing.

We continued our way up north towards Whangarei. On one of these windy little roads, Flo spotted a shop with the name “Signs and motorbikes”, so he turned around and we had a look. It is exactly what it says: A shop for everything sign-related that you might want for a motorbike and also a workshop. After having a short tour around and talking to the owner, we order another world map for our panier as our improvised sticker already started to peel off. New Zealand and Australia have already disappeared from the map.

Mangawhai Heads and the sand dunes there were the perfect spot for a cheesy lunch break before continuing to Whangarei. We went shopping for dinner and breakfast and headed to Otamure Bay to a DOC campsite. This one is rather well maintained and there were even managers around to hand us a whole sheet full of instructions.

Nevertheless, it is a spot right at the beach again. We saw a bit of the sunset and Flo even jumped into the ocean briefly. I had no intention of doing the same. At all.

A rather healthy salad dinner with fried salmon for Flo ended this day quite nicely. We still have Puhoi Fejioa yoghurt for tomorrow though. Sounds so yummy.