Waihi Beach - Great Cafes

It is pleasing to see The Porch Kitchen & Bar entering the Monteiths Wild Food & Beer competition once again with their Peter Rabbit dish. From all reports the dish is quite something and will once again be right up there with the best dishes on offer from cafes around the country.

We are spoilt at the beach with very good cafes - The Flat White, Hot Pipi, Bryde at the Waihi Beach Hotel, The Deli, Cactus Jacks and The Porch do us all proud and thats not to mention the dining at both Gunners View restaurant at the RSA and the Sparkling Waters restaurant at the Bowentown Sportsfishing & Boating Club - and the newest arrival  -the Waihi Beach Surf Club bar at the Waihi Beach Surf Club   Also we have takeaways at the Wilson Rd Fish shop  as well as the Indian takeaways across the road in WIlson Rd. This all adds up to great news for locals and visitors alike as they are spoilt for choice for meals..

For more infor on dining at Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

Waihi Beach Surf Club - Winners

Congratulations to the Waihi Beach Surf Club on winning 2011Trust Power Western BOP District Council Community Awards Sports & Leisure section.

Fantastic news for the surf club who every year do a great job in the community keeping Waihi Beach safe for swimmers and surfers alike.

Also worth noting too that the surf club bar and cafe will be open in winter Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 4pm and they now have a big screen so visitors can catch the major sports matches live. Bar food will be available and families are welcome.

For more information on where to eat at Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

Waihi Beach - early morning June sunrise

I have been getting up early recently I have seen some stunning sunrises - unfortunately my phone does not do them justice but you get the idea.

For more photos of Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/photos.html

Waihi Beach - clean & green

Image from Peter Levshin

Guests recently from California USA commented on how clean New Zealand and Waihi Beach was compared to the USA. They also noted how green everything was.

We explained our local climate and that it can get very dry but it depends on what you are comparing it to. They were comparing it to California USA where in summer it can get really dry and brown

As for the clean - my own thoughts were not the same as theirs. I cringe at the beach here when I see rubbish dumped on the side of the road or rubbish bags left on the roadside and rubbish day has been and gone. The sides of the road are often littered with rubbish tossed out of cars and now somone else has to pick it up to make it look clean - very frustrating and not a good look for the general perception of Waihi Beach being a clean & tidy town.

We all need to take responsibility for our own rubbish to contibute to the bigger picture.
For more images of Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/photos.html

The Blues win ugly

                                        
                                            

Great to have the Blues winning in the sudden death game against the Warratahs last night but in true knock out rugby they won ugly. The forwards did well and in the second half starved the Warraths of the ball and any territory. The backs looked like they had never met beore let alone trained together and the performance was the same. The first half flattered the Blues due to poor tackling and they dodged several bullets.

Lets hope they can get their stuff together before next week. My pick is this is as far as they will go as both the Reds and the Stormers are better disciplined as are the Crusaders.

For the next week though the few Blues supporters at the beach can savour a season when their team has delivered results much better than in the last few years and more often.

Waihi Beach Community Centre

                                                 Image courtesy of Mike Hill photography

It is great to see the Waihi Beach Community Centre being put to good use with benefits to the wider community.

Recently the Arty Bras show and the Waihi Beach Art & Craft fair were held there each raising funds for charity - Arty Bras for Waihi Plunket and The Art & Craft Fair for the Fred Hollows Foundation.

The upcoming Op Shop Ball will also be at the Waihi Beach Community Centre with the proceeds going to the Christchurch Earthquake relief fund. Not sure yet which fund specifically as we are asking for direction from the mayors office in Christchurch.We want to funds to go where they are needed the most and not lost tied up in administration costs.

For more info on activties at Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

The Hauraki Cycle Trail & Waihi Beach

                                          

It is great to see that the Hauraki Cycle Trail is finally underway as it will benefit the surrounding community in may ways.

• It will create jobs in the construction of the cycle way
• It will create  opportunities for local businesses
• It will show case the area to the many visitors
• It will bring additional $ into the surrounding areas from tourists using the cycle trail
• It will add to the shoulder seasons for tourist operators

Part of it will be completed by the start of the RWC 2011 when we will have many new visitors to our piece of paradise here in the Southern Coromandel.
I hope the folk in the Waihi Beach to Omokoroa area take note and see what is happening and what opportunities that will be evident. It is my understanding the Bay of Plenty Cycle Trail is only going to be viable initially from Omokora to Tauranga and further north the various land owners where the cycle trail was proposed have supported the cycle trail in principle but " just not on my land". Hopefully  the wise will intervene and  change the cycle route as it will benefit many - just look what's happened in Central Otago

For more information on activities in and around Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html

The Blues / The Chiefs and Waihi Beach

I have to say to the local Chiefs supporters well done for the win over the Blues last week in Auckland. My team the Blues really have not fired a shot in the last month and while they have accumulated points enough to be at the top of the NZ pool they do not look anything like a team who could win the competition.

Ther next few weeks will be interesting as there are some local derby's that will determine finishing places in the final wash up for each pool.Fingers crossed that the Blues deliver against the Crusaders

The few Blues supporters at Waihi Beach will be hoping that actions match the talk coming out of the Blues camp and the team delivers on the park for 80 minutes and not  for just 20 or 40

To the Chiefs good luck with your game against the Hurricanes - my have they had their problems this week and not all kept in house.

Contrasting sunrises at Waihi Beach

Just a couple of sunrises a day a part to show the contrast of sky views early in the morning.

To find Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/map.html

Waihi Beach and it stunning beauty

                                                               



Sergio the Italian photographer made a very nice comment when we were down on the beach torpedo fishing -" you are very rich living here- what more would you want waking up to this everyday"

We probably take it for granted as it's on our doorstep and out our front windows but he is right. We had a stunning morning on the beach and the sea had hardly a ripple and there was hardly anyone on the beach.

He was able to make the comment as he has been to places recently that are war torn , Libya, Afganistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran and the list goes on.He has seen beautiful places turned into rubble with no end in sight to the on going destruction.

To find out more about Waihi Beach www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/specials.html

Waihi Beach & RWC 2011

                                   


We had the opportunity to host a visiting Italian photographer Sergio Ramazzotti covering off stories for Tourism New Zealand yesterday and this morning. He has done 3 stories - The Whaka carver up in Doubtless Bay, Art Deco in Hawkes Bay and the Black Ferns.

He was here at Waihi Beach to shoot some more images for the Black Ferns story by showing images of kiwis playing rugby at grass roots level and so off we went to watch Waihi Athletic train last night up in Waihi. He snapped his shots from almost anywhere and after an hour or so he was done saying he had what he needed.

His last shot was of a young guy leaving training in his bare feet with his training bag over his shoulder heading home - he thought that was priceless. I had to explain to him about kiwi kids growing up always being in bare feet more so in summer and when it rains

This morning around 7 ish we went torpedo fishing off the beach and luckily we were able to have fresh fish for a late breakfast as a kawhai took one for the team and became our only success.

For more on RWC 2011 and Waihi Beach Lodge www.waihibeachlodge.co.nz/activities.html