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Take the (Tokerau) weather with you

RUSTY TIPPING checking the pictures captured by the weather camera on the roof of his Rusty Anchor backpackers'establishment at Whatuwhiwhi on Tuesday; (above left) the camera will never be a tourist attraction, but it's attracting interest all over the world.
Those who consider the Karikari Peninsula/Doubtless Bay home can now take the weather with them wherever they might travel, courtesy of the weather camera Rusty Tipping has installed on the roof of his Rusty Anchor backpackers' establishment at Whatuwhiwhi.
More importantly, those who might be thinking of visiting the Doubtless Bay region now have instant access to one of the best views on the peninsula. And that is already beginning to prove its value.
Rusty, who's invested a good deal of time, money and energy into the Rusty Anchor, and the small shopping centre that it is adjacent to, said earlier this week that he had been looking for a point of difference, something that would make his establishment stand out from the backpacker accommodation crowd. And he reckons he's found it with the weathercam.
It's only been sitting on the roof, pointing out over the sweep of Tokerau Beach and Doubtless bay, on a clear day even picking up the Ahipara sand dunes, for a matter of weeks, but already he's taken a booking for 28 people who want to stay there for seven nights, after the images were picked up in London.
A little closer to home, the Doubtless Bay camera, as its officially known, is a hit with TV3 News. The programme links up each evening withwww.takeabreak.co.nz to screen an image from one of the 52 cameras around the country as part of its weather forecast, and according to takeabreak developer Andrew Rodley it has become the channel's most popular weathercam so far this summer.
"The image has certainly been a favourite of Mike (McRoberts) and Toni (Marsh)," he said.
"The pictures will be even better at the time of day in the autumn, when the sun's setting," Rusty said.
The images, which are recorded by the camera every ten minutes around the clock, can be seen on www.rustyanchor.co.nz (click on weathercam), Rusty saying he was working to develop the site as a major promotional tool not only for Whatuwhiwhi and Tokerau Beach but the entire district, and indeed Northland.
The pictures can also be found on the takeabreak site (click on weathercam then select Doubtless Bay).
"Businesses, activities, services, real estate, anything and everything will have a place on this site, which will reach a huge market," he said.
"And of course people will be able to pick up the   images from anywhere in the world to check out what the weather's doing. This has the potential to bring a lot of people to this part of the world, and that represents opportunities that  a lot of people will want to tap into."

For live view click on the image below