Himitangi – quad bike heaven

Here at Himitangi Beach Motor Camp the quad bikes trundle in and out of camp all day.  With the beach just down the road, the motor camp is a great place to stay for fisher-folk, beach lovers, and families alike.  Quad bikes and dirt bikes are a “must have” accessory for many of the campers.  The Christmas lights are still lighting up the evening hours, and taking pride of place was Santa on a quad bike.  Camp boss Dennis had the framework for this sign made by a friend, he related, then completed it with lengths of rope lights.  Is certainly is very effective and fits right in with life in camp.

  Santa on a quad bike

A selection of beach transport

Most people who come out to camp regularly have an older caravan permanently on site with an extra room or two attached.  Port Corner, also known as Bullshit Corner, is adorned with all sorts of signs and stickers.  They were a little surprised when I asked to take a photo of their home away from home, while they were happily sitting reading the morning papers. 

  Happy campers

One of the campers tows a large Kontiki behind his quad bike.  The Kontiki takes out a long line with many hooks, up to 100, from the beach, then is easily reeled in again with the motorised reel. 

Seen in camp - large Kontiki

This fisherman came back into camp with two large snapper, and we watched with interest as he set up his portable smoker.  The smoker is fuelled by meths, in goes a layer of sawdust, with the fish fillets placed on top.  The hot smoking process only takes 20 minutes, the the fish will be ready to serve on crackers to the fisherman’s friends, he commented.  Yum, I like the sound of that.

Hot smoking fish fillets

Sadly, I didn’t get offered any of this smoked fish, despite standing and looking rather longingly at it while the fisherman described the process to me, but later had the next best thing.  Our group wandered down the road to the Cossie Club restaurant in the early evening.  Robin and I both chose fresh battered fish from the menu, and very nice it was too.  This busy restaurant is popular with locals and campers alike and always serves up generous portions of delicious food.