Post 27 – Opononi to Cooper’s Beach, Manganui

Another 4 salons have spurned Mrs Froud and her hair – surely there is an opening for an entrepreneurial spirit to open a salon who will slide in quickies between bookings

We left Opononi without breakfast and arrived at the ferry (‘firry’ to any Kiwis here, Fiona!) with half an hour to spare before the next sailing. It looks like the Studland ferry but that is where the similarity ends. We were able to park the car in the queue, lock it , and go and have breakfast before the ferry arrived. We had been directed to the Boat Shed Cafe and sure enough they did a lovely breakfast and served it in time for us to eat it before the ferry arrived.

Having driven through the pretty, quiet, hilly, countryside, mainly farmland, we arrived in the early afternoon at the San Marino Motor Lodge at Cooper’s Beach, Manganui on Doubtless Bay. This is a lovely spot and the Motel unit we have is absolutely right on the beach, and we are lulled by the gentle shush of the waves onto the beach.

We went into town to get fish and chips for later and went home after being rebuffed at another salon, to eat it later. Yours truly went into the sea for a swim, cool at first but quite warm really, the first time in the sea for me since Worbarrow Bay in Dorset in August last year!!

And so to bed to the sound of the sea.   Oh,oh! A second world war air-raid siren has just gone off but I can’t hear the Dorniers yet.   Goodness knows what that means!

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