Far North Travelogue - Day Five

OK, it's taking me a while to catch up, but I'll get there in the end. We had a leisurely start on Day 5, heading north once again to take in some of the bits we missed on the previous day. There were several stops on the roadside to take pictures of old Ratana (a Maori Christian sect) churches at Te Kao ...

... and Te Hapua ...

...and another brief stop to photograph a bird on the telephone wires which Gill had seen in exactly the same spot the previous day, and identified later that evening after reference to Heather & Robertson's "Field Guide to the Bird of New Zealand" as a Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis aka Eastern Broad-billed Roller). I must admit that I rather disbelieved the ID, since the book describes it as a "rare Australian straggler". However, the photo just about proves it must be one!

Then it was on to the northern tip of the peninsular again, where we wound our way down to the spectacular but remote, windy and deserted Kapowairua at the eastern end of Spirits Bay. There's a large DOC (Department of Conservation) camp site here, and I can imagine it must be very nice to stay here in late summer, after the holidaying hordes have retreated south to Auckland. The sea was just way to wild to contemplate swimming, but there's plenty of shallow, calm water in the estuary, if it were a little warmer. From here one can hike along the coast for some distance to the east, but also west to Cape Reinga and then south along the Ninety Mile Beach.

The sand on the main beach was coarse and very colourful.

From here we retraced our steps back to the northern shores of the Parengarenga Harbour, where we investigated the sleepy and rather decrepit settlement of Te Hapua.

As we drove south we explored several of the small, mostly gravel - or as they say here, metal - dead-end roads going off to the east of the main road. This one to the village (not much more than a collection of half a dozen houses, really) of Paua had a sign pointing to "White Sand Adventures", but ended rather disappointingly at this old abandoned warehouse ...

and jetty. One hopes that it's a little more lively during the summer!

Even the swans - which are feral over much of the North Island, but particularly in the Far North - hardly turned to look at us as we drove past.

Eventually we found a road that actually took us all the way to the famed "white sands" of the eastern part of the peninsula, which we'd seen a lot of from a distance. This is Rarawa Beach, just south of Paxton Point, where we found a nice spot sheltered from the wind and spent a couple of hours. Then the rain clouds built up and we hastily packed our belongings, getting to the car just in time before the showers arrived, and headed south once more.

By the time we got back to Pukenui/Houhora, where we were due to spend a second night, the sun had come out again ...

... so we stopped at the main wharf to watch the unloading of a large oyster catch from a barge ...

... and since we had some time to spare decided to make another short excursion to the western side of the peninsular at Hukatere, which is roughly a third of the way up Ninety Mile beach. Spectular scenery ...

... but rather inhospitable, so we didn't spend long there, preferring instead to head back to the car, and home for "tea".

Far North Travelogue - Day Four

We left early on Tuesday morning, and headed straight for the northernmost accessible point, Cape Reinga. It was another very windy day, not particularly good for outdoor excursions, but the views were spectacular and we had brief glimpses of the massive sand dunes on Ninety Mile Beach.



The cape itself, although sunny, was windy and very busy so we didn't stay for too long - enough time for a 5 minute walk to the lighthouse and some team photos. In the second photo, the northernmost end of Ninety Mile Beach lies behind the huge sand dunes.




Plenty of cabbage trees, or Ti kouka (Cordyline australis), around! We have one of these in our garden - it's about 7 or 8 metres high, and is in full flower at the moment. I'll try and take a photo of it to post some time soon, before the flowers are gone.



Another view of the waves breaking on Te Werahi Beach ...



... before we returned to the very pleasant Pukenui Holiday Park on the shores of the Houhora Harbour, where we spent the next two nights. The girls, of course, had the inevitable "discussion" about who was going to sleep where ending up, as usual, with Gill and me making the decision, to prevent blood being shed!

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.