Well golly. It has been some time since I blogged anything. My last blog was in December 2019! Then of course the world imploded in 2020, then I became a mum in November 2020 and anything Lola Photography magically became lesser of a priority to raising a teenie tiny human. But here I am, 3 years later (farrrkk bit of a slap in the face typing that - time really does speed the hell up when you procreate) with a new refreshed energy to showcase my work outside of the ol gram.
The weather has well and truely been less than favourable this summer, so naturally I went and reflected on the glory of March 2022. Light winds and clear skies. Let’s hope March 2023 delivers the same.
Since we were headed to the FFN with a toddler in tow, we took a half way stop at Whangarei Falls to show our little mate his first waterfall! It’s an easy sub-5 minute walk down from the carpark, so it was a do-able mini adventure for our mini.
Our first camping location was Tauranga Bay. Proper beach front living. Naturally I’ve always loved camping right on the beach, but it’s even more essential with a toddler. Having instant access to the ocean means sunrise and sunset sessions are easy as, and we could enjoy the beach while our little dude napped in the tent. Speaking of tents - this was our first adventure out in the Feldon Shelter Hawkes Nest and it has added so much ease to our camping set up. It pops up in less than 30 seconds and packs away in less than a minute because the whole pop top is on gas struts. We went for the wide model to fit all three of us in, and opted for 2 roof racks on the top. That means we can have our surfboards secured and not even have to take them off to pop the tent. Pre-Hawkes Nest days it was always a juggle with where to keep the boards. In the truck was a pain because they just got in the way of the rest of our setup and under the truck just felt sketchy at night sometimes.
I cosied up the mattress with a couple of foam mattress toppers and the whole thing epically closes up with all of our bedding in it. So it literally is just a matter of rolling up to your spot and popping it up. It takes more time to chuck out our awning than to set up our tent!
Another piece of equipment we have been so stoked to add to our kit is the EcoFlow River - a portable power station teamed with some solar panels. This has been insanely good for us running the white noise machine to drown out campsite noise and keeping all my gear charged up on the road. It can even power a hairdryer or electric kettle if you are feeling boujee with your camping setup. The solar panels fully charge the power station back up to 100% in about an hour and a half in full sun. It’s also an epic backup to have at home if the power goes out.
So we beached, explored, fished and yarned with all the Tauranga Bay camper van regulars for a couple of nights before we hit the road further north.
The above walk is the Mahinepua Peninsula Walking Track. It’s a relatively easy 3km walk (intensity points added with a toddler on your back). Heads up there are about 200 steps. But you will be rewarded with some stunner views. Even on a grey day!
We then mosied our way up to the Karikari Peninsula and based ourselves at the Whatuwhiwhi TOP 10 Holiday Park. This was a great base to explore the peninsula. I rated that the park had different levels and nooks & crannys so you could actually get a pretty private spot. We even got a little ocean view from up in the roof tent and it was an easy wander to Parakerake Beach. We then spent our days exploring the pristine white sand beaches and even scored some waves.
Our Judge & Co kitchen drawer set up was pretty new to our adventure set up and has been sooo damn good to cook a feed anywhere. One drawer is the “kitchen” with all of our cooking equipment, including gas cooker. And the other drawer is basically our pantry with all of our dry foods, plates & cups etc. So first thing, we closed up the tent, rolled out to our beach of choice and cooked up some brekkie!
Once again, the magic of the rooftop tent means we could spend the whole day at the beach and not feel like we had to be back at a campsite for nap time. So our little friend snoozed away while ma & pa soaked up some rays and enquired about a few Tarakihi.
We were then back again at sparrows fart so I could have a little sunrise paddle with camera in hand. Something that has been few and far between since becoming a mumma. I always get asked what my in-water set up is, so see below:
Nikon D750
Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8
Aquatech Waterhousing (with zoom gearing)
A super fun sesh ensued. The water was so warm and winds were perfectly light. It felt so good to be back in my element. Sing out if you love any of the shots enough to hang them on your walls and I’ll add them to my print shop for you lickety-split.
After some breakfast we scored some fun little waves and had a fam swim. The water was as clear and warm as the tropics. Who need the islands when you’ve got the Far North!
We weren’t so lucky on the fishing front but some lads at the campground gave us some snapper, so we whipped up some snapper burgers out the back of the truck and shared a look with Jord that plainly said “this is what life is all about.”
Then we were off again. This time over to the West Coast to Ahipara. Theres yet another epic low-cost, beach-front campground right on Shipwreck Bay.
If you head west around the rocks from Shipwreck Bay (yep you can drive around there, 4WD recommended) you’ll be spoilt with surf break after surf break. We hit Mukie1 - a fun little left hand point break that is essentially like a wave pool it’s so consistent and friendly.
As the swell died down we even took our little human out for his first ever “surf” and he was the most excited we had ever seen him. A wee ocean lover just like mum & dad.
With that, the limit of chasing a 15 month old to stop him running straight into the ocean every day had been well and truely met. Now I’m just hoping and praying that the remainder of summer is a vast improvement on what we’ve already had so we can get out for some more of this action!
Thanks for stopping by. More blogs to come soon. A bit sooner than 3 years this time, hehe. Toodles.
