Last day on the Pohutukawa coast.



Maraetai Wharf

I was up early and off to the Maraetai wharf. I kind of feel a bond now with that section of the beach. It is a very pretty place to be and especially rewarding in the early hours. I left 6.45am. A kayak went sweeping past, a couple of dog walkers come joggers and a father passing on his fishing skills to a young fella on the wharf were the only signs of life. I arrived before 7am collecting a hot coffee and a bun from the bakery on my way.  It was right on full tide which cut down my options and search area. The trash from yesterdays huge crowd was not too bad but it would be nicer if all the people could take home their rubbish instead of walking away and leaving it on, under and around the sand.
Well, I spent 45 minutes swinging and for once even though I got good vibes when I arrived the pickings were slim. I dug every target as usual with bottle tops heading the list of finds by a long way with tent pegs in second place. I struggled to uncover only 30 cents with two battered coins. I know the tide was all wrong and I did wish to wade out a bit but my friend would not have appreciated me handing back a water logged Garrett ACE 150. The thing that gave me most joy was the young fella on the end of the wharf excitedly shouting out "I got one" and you could hear the pride in the father voice as he talked the fish in as his wee lad bought a medium size snapper on to the wharf. The first of many I expect.
I had to leave and pack my car to be in the city (I hate that word) by midday for an appointment. So I leave Beachlands after a nice break and of course my detecting fever has returned.

I have ordered a machine from the States but I'm sure they consider 'customer service' a foreign phrase.

Ignorant and unhelpful. I just hope I got the one bad salesman who really did seem like a lump of iron compared to a gold nugget. After blocking my money for two weeks they then informed me of no MasterCard facility and made me use Paypal. At the end of the day the extra fees charged and the exchange rate change fluctuation cost me an extra 70 odd dollars. I ordered in early December and still no word of the goods being packed and on their way. They seem to offer a good deal but the company must search long and hard to be able to employ such a drongo as the guy I initially dealt with. It's almost like he wanted to push you to beyond the edge of frustration before he acted. I'm actually dreading the possibility of having to deal with after sales service. Still I've made my bed now.



The Garrett Ace 150
my friend for the last week or so.

 So I think my stay here has produced about $25 cash and a few other interesting but not valuable items, I leave a happy man. The Garrett Ace 150 did what the manual said and I would recommend it as an entry level detector. I think with this machine you have to dig every signal as I found most coin finds were indicated as Iron or pull tabs. That's maybe why I still had success after the ATPro guys had done a half days sweep in the area. I'm looking forward to getting a machine with better discrimination modes though, I think headphones might help too.

I'm going to ask if I can keep a lend of the ACE150 till my new detector arrives

Till next time.