Far North Travelogue - Day Three

Gill has pointed out that we made the visit to the South Head on the following morning, on the Monday, before we headed north, so I got things slightly out of sequence, but I'm not going to bother reposting everything or editing it. I'm sure you get the gist. The atmospheric shot of the harbour, looking over the water back towards Opononi was taken on the Sunday evening! Anyway, by mid-morning we were heading north again with full coffee flasks ...



... and our first "pitstop" was suitably located to get photos of another old church at Pakanae ...



... and some cannons which guard "Kupe's Memorial Stone", reputedly the ballast or anchor stone which the famous Polynesian navigator brought with him in his waka (canoe) to New Zealand some 8 or 9 centuries ago.



We arrived in the small town of Rawene late morning, and waited half an hour or so for the ferry to arrive. This took us on a ten/fiftenn minute ride across the Hokianga harbour, which saved an hour or so of driving. Rawene is picturesque, if a little sleepy, and I guess most of the people who live there make a living from the tourist trade.



There are many picturesque old buildings ...



As the ferry arrived, we realized that we didn't have much cash with which to pay the ferryman, so Gill did a quick run to the cafe to use her cash card, although it turned out that we did have enough after all!



The girls braved the brisk cool wind to get out of the car for a few minutes ...



... but we didn't have much time to admire the view. This is the village of Matawhera seen from the ferry!



A couple of minutes after disembarking from the ferry on the other side, we arrived in the village of Kohukohu, where we stopped for lunch (pies) under more cannons, another toilet stop ...



... and because there were so many old buildings in the tiny settlement, we went for a quick walk. This building has a masonic emblem on the facade, but doesn't look as if it has been used for anything for a while except perhaps as a storage room ...



... but many of the houses obviously are occupied, if a little decrepit. The sign reads "Decrepit Serenity"!



From here we left the harbour, and went into more hilly farm land, and then the sleepy hamlet of Broadwood, where we stopped briefly to have a walk on the swing bridge.



We saw this cottage on a small side-road leading to the Herekino Harbour. Despite what looked like a newly painted roof - well, sort of - there was no sign of anyone living there, just a few derelict cars! There's a lot of this sort of thing in the Far North, we discovered ...



... although the farmland is generally well stocked (with livestock, I mean, mainly sheep up there). This view also from near Herekino - I think the little stock dam is full of Azolla, which we used to have in the weir at Linden Grange before the flood of 1996 (or was it 1995) took away the dam (and weir)!



As we drove through the hills towards the seaside town of Ahipara, we saw this extraordinary sand dune "perched" like a glacier on the hills.



Ahipara was where we'd planned to stay the night, and after some long hours spent in the car, the girls were keen to get out. Before looking for a place to stay, we investigated the beaches, which form the southern end of the famed "Ninety Mile Beach". This chap, seen in Shipwreck Bay, was obviously a local walking his hunting dogs. The start of "Ninety Mile Beach" can be seen in the background of the photo.



Then it was off to the camp ground, where we found the cheapest accomodation of our whole trip (two tiny cabins) and while we made some tea, the girls made friends with the neighbours and enjoyed the nice weather.



After a quick drive into the town of Kaitaia and a visit to the supermarket for some food - we travelled pretty light this trip - we had an early night!

Trip to the Far North - Days One & Two

There were some worries that we wouldn't actually get away on our holiday, due to Gill being very busy at work, but by midday on Friday 30 September, all was set for her to have the following week off. A last minute booking of our now regular Auckland motel room was fortunate as we got the last room available! Actually it's only the second time we've stayed there, but managed to get the same room both times. After a fairly leisurely morning of packing, we left on the first leg of our Far North trip at about lunch time on Saturday morning. An uneventful trip to Auckland, and after checking in at the motel (to make sure they didn't give our room to someone else) we dropped in to see the McCartneys in the late afternoon.



At nine the next morning we left Auckland, with no set itinerary, just an unusually vague intention to explore a part of New Zealand that we haven't seen at all. The furthest north we'd been previously was the Bay of Islands, when Angela and her friend Chris took us to stay at his family bach some years ago. We'd also decided that, for once, we wouldn't camp, as the Far North has notoriously changeable weather, and October is often wet, wherever you are in the country. We were hoping to rely on campground cabins, but hadn't done any advance booking. Anyway, we got as far as Brynderwyn - which NZers, by the way, pronounce quite differently from what you'd expect - at which point we decided, on the spur of the moment, to leave the track well beaten by Aucklanders and many foreign tourists, and headed west, along the northern shores of the Kaipara Harbour. A much quieter route, with the road winding through the rolling hills and occasional glimpses of the muddy water of the Kaipara in the distance, much easier on the driving, particularly since there were numerous rain showers. We decided, after seeing the number of tourist buses stacked up outside, to avoid the Kauri & Pioneer Museum, although we did make use of their Clean Rest Room. We usually set off in the mornings on our journeys well stocked with flasks of coffee, which helps to keep me awake driving long distances, but also means we have to make fairly frequent pitstops. These are often in small, one-horse towns which we otherwise probably wouldn't give a second glance, and in some of which, e.g. Ruawai, on the Wairoa River estuary, the inhabitants probably don't have an awful lot to do except collect hubcaps. As I was taking the photo, I wondered where he'd got them all from, turned to check our car, and was vaguely relieved to note that it doesn't have any!



It's mainly farming country around here, as it has been for many generations. There are lots of very old churches scattered around the small settlements, including this one on a knoll overlooking the Wairoa River estuary near the village of Turiwiri, and in the shadow of a spectacular craggy peak which appeared from the signposts to be some sort of remnant of an extinct volcano. The church didn't look as though it was used very frequently, although the lawns were obviously still cut regularly.



The largest town on this part of the west coast of the North Island is Dargaville, which touts itself in the brochures as being the "Heart of the Kauri Coast". It has a reputation throughout the rest of the country, however, for being a sort of Hicksville, somewhat reinforced by the friendly garage attendant who, after filling up the van with diesel, and learning that we were from Tauranga, asked why on earth we wanted to visit Dargaville, when we could be in the Bay of Plenty. We took him at his word, and headed west straight out of town for our first glimpse of the real "wild" west coast (not capitalized, as the "West Coast" is used specifically for the west coast of the South Island) on this trip, at Baylys Beach ...



... interesting, but not particularly hospitable when the weather's being uncooperative.



From there we turned north and headed up into the hills through more farmland, with a quick detour to the famed Kai Iwi Lakes, freshwater lakes perched in the sand dunes, complete with resident trout populations! It was very windy and we had a few light showers while we were there, but it was very picturesque, and is one of the places that we agreed we'd like to go back and camp some time. However, I imagine that it's chokka, as they say, in the summer. The beach is very white, the water is clear and a lovely pale blue colour, and both are fringed, at least in the vicinity of the camp site, by pine trees. The ablution block is basic, but it was a place that I think I could happily spend a few days with trout rod and kayak, if we could keep the girls entertained. In fact, it reminded me very much of the Inyangombe Camp Site.



The camp site was almost deserted when we visited - in fact, there weren't many tourists at all on the entire west coast, despite it being the middle of the school holidays - and the girls made the most of this opportunity to use the playground and toilets ... and shatter the peace with rather a lot of shouting!



Then we were into the extensive Waipoua Forest ...



... where we stopped briefly and walked the five minutes - in the rain - to pay our respects to the famous Tane Mahuta "Lord of the Forest", New Zealand's tallest kauri tree, very impressive at 51 metres high, 17 metres to the first branch, 4.4 meters in diameter and with a circumference of 13 metres.



After winding up and down a few more hills we were suddenly overlooking the entrance of the Hokianga Harbour, where we had, some three or four hours earlier, decided to look for a place to stay the night. The holiday camp in the village of Omapere which we'd thought looked most suitable in the rather old AA Guidebook we were using turned out to have been taken over by a large hotel chain, and was way out of our price bracket, quite apart from the fact that we hadn't brought any smart clothes! We settled for a spacious, if rather sparsely furnished, single-roomed cabin at a motor camp in the next village along the shore, Opononi. This is a view of a part of the Hokianga harbour from the verandah of our cabin, with the huge sand dunes on the north head of the harbour mouth in the background.



After checking in at the motor camp, and the perennial "discussion" amongst the girls about who was going to get which beds/bunks, we went for a drive to the South Head, at the entrance to the Hokianga Harbour. The harbour stretches inland to the north-west for quite a distance (almost 40 kilometres, as the crow flies) but the harbour entrance is only 500-600 meres wide, guarded by a large hill to the south and the massive sand dunes to the north. Quite spectacular ...



... and on a clear day, I'm sure one can see a long way over the Tasman towards Australia. When we were there it was pretty hazy, presumably due to the high winds.



More interesting trees, plants, weathering, erosion and rock formations ...



Later it clouded over, and looked as though it might rain, so we headed back to Omapere for an evening meal ... but not before I got this great atmospheric shot of the harbour.



A very full day, and if we weren't already full enough, we stopped at a small cafe for a meal of fish, scallops, hamburgers and chips. The extended family of the people who owned the cafe including, it seemed, at least three, maybe four generations (children, parents, grandmother, uncles and aunts etc.) kept us entertained while we ate, after which we retired to the cabin for the night.

Lesley's photos

Today I have a selection of recent photos from Lesley - we hope you enjoy them. First some funny faces from Camilla, Louise and Hannah (from left to right) ...

... and then a series of their hat creations from a few weeks ago. They are in the same order: Camilla with the origami birds, sky and clouds, Louise as the psychedelic Mad Hatter, and Hannah as Nefertiti.

Playing on the relatively new miniputt course at the bottom of Oropi Road, next to John's Produce.

Louise, Hannah & Camilla on our front verandah, about to play some volleyball?

Hannah "posing"

Camilla celebrating a win at netball.

Seashells collection.

Louise in a pensive mood on the way to Pahoia. PS - I've just noticed this is Camilla, not Louise - I'll have to post a photo of Louise next time!

Hannah showing off Lesley's new coat.

Brett looking at the view from the site of a proposed park at Huharua, Plummers Point, north of Tauranga.

Camilla playing the fool.

Lesley wearing new jacket.

Hannah on our front lawn.

Flooding in Oropi - nothing like New Orleans, but a lot of rain nevertheless.

Later this evening I'll post some more of my own photos to accompany the email which you'll hopefully have received by the time you see this.

Lambing season ... and more spring photos

Of course, it's lambing season here in Gluepot Road, and the fields are full of them. The photo below was taken from our verandah early yesterday morning, at the start of what was forecast to be a rainy day, but turned out to be lovely sunny and warm.

Our neighbour's paddock at the front, i.e. at the end of our lawn, now has half a dozen ewes which produced triplets, although in a couple of cases one of the lambs did not survive. Included in the latter is "Rowdy", who the girls raised three or four years ago, after she was orphaned. We gave her back to Alan (the neighbour) after she was wened, but that didn't stop her returning to demolish our flower beds periodically, until Alan banished her to a distant paddock. Well, the girls are very pleased to see her back again, especially since she has two lambs of her own! Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate a photo of "Rowdy" then, and those that I took of her yesterday didn't turn out very well, so you'll have to wait for that.

On Saturday afternoon we attended what's called locally a roof-shout, at the Hodges. There is a tradition here when a building is completed, the builders are "shouted" fish and chips and a beer or two. As there were only three of us building - Peter, Jerry and myself - this meant that there weren't very many of us at the roof-shout, but the food was good, and Camilla and Louise helped Gill to make an appropriate cake, which was received very well.

Last week was fairly quiet at the school - term is coming to an end - which has given me an opportunity to enjoy the lovely spring weather, and take some photos in the garden, which I can now share with you. I'll try to leave out the ones that show the rampant growth of weeds, already threatening to overpower us because of the warm weather. This reminds me that I need to get out the knapsack sprayer and do some herciding of the blackberry again. This cyclamen is one that we've had on the kitchen window sill for about four years, although it spends each summer "resting" in the garden shed. It always produces an impressive winter display.

We've had a Meyer lemon tree in a pot on our verandah for about two years now, and while it usually has good crops of lemons several times a year, it hasn't grown much and I think we may have to move it to a larger pot soon.

We were given this camellia a couple of years ago by one of Gill's workmates, and had to transplant it from a pot in her garden into the ground in our garden. A pretty hard task as it wasn't small, and I think the Venter trailer fared better than I did! The camellia, however, hasn't done badly at all, and this spring has produced quite a good display of flowers.

We have three kowhai - the word also means "yellow" in Maori - trees in the garden, and they're all in flower now, which attracts the tuis. I haven't managed to get a decent photo of a tui yet, but it is black and looks rather like a starling, with a tuft of white feathers at it's throat. When they flower, the couple of dozen flax plants - three different varieties, I think - that we've planted on the bank on the Gluepot Road side of our house also attract the tuis, and an occasional bellbird.

The herb garden which Gill and I spent some time planting last spring on the south side of the house (outside the kitchen) has yet to revive after the ravages of winter, but elsewhere the self-seeded borage is flowering profusely.

More in due course ...

Brett

Working as a builder

I've been a little busier than usual, too, as I've been working part-time for the last four months building a studio/cottage for a friend, with him and another chap. It was very convenient, as I was able to work school hours, and if there was a school activity, a sick child or something else that I needed to attend to, it was no problem for me to take time off. I found the work enjoyable and interesting, and not too strenuous or difficult, although I did whinge a little when we were putting up the ceilings (my upper arm strength has deteriorated from minimal to almost non-existent). We were also pretty lucky with the weather - as you can see from the photo below - during the period before we had the roof on, with very little rain, and lots of beautiful sunny days.

It was also very satisfying to have been involved with the project more or less from the start. I didn't actually dig the holes for the foundations, but we concreted in the posts for the piles on my first day, and I did a bit of everything right up to the final touches of paint work a few weeks ago. Peter & Moana - the owners of the building, and parents of C+L's friend Anya, shown in the photo in a pevious posting - told me this weekend that the carpet is due in this week, and a roof-wetting party is planned for next weekend. A few weeks ago we attended the baptism of their third daughter Freya at a very pretty old RC church in Te Puna, the other side of Tauranga. I was interested to discover that the outdoor "font" used was an old Maori grinding stone ("huyu", or is it "guyu") brought from the original church which was built, I think, some time in the 1880s.


Anyway, back to the building work ... the trickiest part of the job was erecting the roof trusses, which had to manhandled into place by the three of us (with the aid of some ladders and a tractor with a bucket on the front). I wasn't too happy on working up at that height at first - even though it's now 18 yrs since my accident, I'm still not to keen on heights - but the time the photo below (Jerry, Peter & myself, securing roof trusses) was taken by Moana, I was familiar enough not to be holding on for dear life with one hand while hammering with the other.

I wouldn't mind doing some more work in that field, but unless I find more part-time or piece work in the area, it's not likely to happen, as I'm always restricted to school hours during the school term, and am completely unavailable during the holidays. Besides, part of the attraction was the continually changing nature of the work - one day it was cutting and hammering timber together, the next it was doing plastering, nailing on roofing sheets, or painting the insides of cupboards. In real life, I believe that houses here are generally built by a series of contractorrs, each of whom is very skilled in a fairly narrow field, and I think it might get repetitive and tiresome before too long. A friend who lives down the road used to have a small business as a plasterer, but had to give it up not long ago because of RSI (repetitive strain injury) in his wrists. Anyway, it was an interesting change for me, and I think I got a vague inkling of what it was like for ggfather Charles Vincent and Uncle Hallam to work on the construction of the dome of the Horticultural Building at the Worlds Fair in Chicago a hundred and twelve years ago in 1892 - see image below!

Oh, and I forgot to mention the rather nonplussed look I got from my co-workers when I asked for "sando ne spikiri".

Spring arrives, and the netball season comes to an end

Spring arrived a little early in Oropi this year, as it did in the rest of New Zealand, and the first of our daffodils at the end of the lawn opened yesterday, right on cue.

Usually ours come out a little later than many elsewhere in the district as we're just that little bit higher and cooler. The tulips, however, have not fared well, probably because it just didn't get cold enough this winter. In many ways it's been a similar autumn/winter season to our first that we experienced in 1999 shortly after settling here, in that it's been dryish and not too cold. Also the autumn colours were almost non-existent, which was a little disappointing but that's one of the trade-offs, I guess. The last couple of weeks have been particularly nice weather, and it's been good to spend time outdoors. The last Friday of August was Daffodil Day, and in New Zealand this is used as a fundraiser by the Cancer Society - the school (Oropi School, that is) held a "hat day". We spent a good deal of effort and time looking for designs, planning, and than constructing the hats, but in the end it was a very successful project. Hannah in her Egyptian head dress (see below) won the prize for "most original" in her class, but I think the other two were pretty good too. The picture below shows them with three of their classmates - Anya, Louise, Rhiannon, Camilla and Louisa. Camilla's hat consists of origami birds flying around a blue sky with cotton wool clouds!


Camilla and Louise are dressed in their "sports uniforms" - actually just a T-shirt - because they had a day of fun netball with nine other schools in Tauranga - boys in the class played soccer and rugby. I provided transport, logistical and sideline support - in other words I was chief taxi driver, bag minder, clothes hanger, orange boy etc. The twins played netball for the first time this year, and have not only enjoyed it but excelled. Camilla has become chief goal scorer for the Year 6 team, while Louise (shown in the action shot below) has been active in the defense and midfield.

More to follow ...

A fresh start at regular news from the Gluepot Gang ...

Well, as Diana pointed out in her latest email, spring is here, so I think it's time to dust away some cobwebs from the letter-writing corner of the desk and give you an update on how we're doing in New Zealand. I'm going to make this blog site the main vehicle for our news, because it will be easier to illustrate with photos, which you can read and view at your leisure. The latest, as well as all previous, letters/news bulletins will always be available online at htpp://gluepotgazette.blogspot.com - easy to remember, I hope. I guess there's a lot of catching up to do, news-wise - however, I'll try not to load you with too much in one go, but hope to make regular postings to the blogsite. I'm not going to promise that I will keep it up as well as Diana has done, but I'll do my best, and would appreciate some feedback. If you'd like to respond on the blog site, you are welcome to do so in the form of a comment - just follow the links. If you're unable to view the blog site, but would like the news (+/- pictures) in the form of an email, please let me know, and I'll send them to you.

To start with, here's a photo of Gill and the girls (from left to right: Camilla, Hannah, Louise and Lesley) eating hot dogs at our then newly assembled picnic bench on the lawn in February.


With love from us all, Brett, Gill, Lesley, Louise and Camilla