However Clint and Molly are quite right Herbertville is a little gem. From the village baches which are so locked back into the 60's the way NZ baches should be to the long endless stretch of beach this is a well kept secret for freedom campers.
Come Saturday morning we headed through Waipukurau and off toward Porangahau. Central Hawke's Bay is in the grip of a bad drought at the moment and we certainly saw the evidence all over. Some places are just dust bowls. Quite depressing.
We turned off just before Porangahau and headed down toward Wimbledon. A very scenic road even with the drought making the view brown rather than green. Still quite a few stands of native bush around and some good farmland in the open valleys.
I expected Herbertville to be similar to Blackhead or Kairakau beaches in CHB. Steep drop down into them and fairly enclosed till you get to the beach. However Herbertville is at the end of a long open sweep of valley and just tucks itself in against a little hill. We travelled on further around the beach and stopped in at Pipi Bank Station to ask permission to camp. We settled in after adjusting our camp spot a bit and headed up the beach for a stroll taking in the lovely vista back to Cape Turnagain ( So named because Captain Cook sailed south to this point and then turned and headed north again). Someone had thoughtfully left a homemade sled at the bottom of the sand dunes and we had some fun trying that out. I now have much more respect when I see sportspeople training up and down sand dunes. Jeez it is hard to climb up them.
We spent a relaxed afternoon reading and strolling, had a good sleep until the wind started up around 4am and then packed up and headed hope via Weber.
Another short trip done and dusted. Our next big trip is at the start of April when we head around the top of the North Island with Clint's parents for a couple of weeks. I've been up there a couple of times now and am really looking forward to showing the Aussies some of our NZ heritage spots.
