Our travels are both made and marred by the actions of
others. This trip was to be no exception to the rule. However, we came across
more of the kind and helpful people than of the other kind.
Early(ish) on Saturday morning we set off on our journey
north. It is a relatively easy journey as most of the driving is on the SH1.
Having crossed the Harbour Bridge the motorway continues north with six lanes.
Nearer the edge of the built up part of the city it changes to four lanes and
then in the country it becomes a normal road with many more twists and turns.
Once again we were impressed by the speedy growth of Warkworth.
For our coffee stop we pulled into the first café in the
little town of Wellsford. It was a bakery and the food was good, but the
serving was slow. In fact one group sent back their breakfast having waited too
long.
Across the road was the police station and the top of a large
hoarding read ‘No meat is better than no mate’. The rest of the board was
hidden by a vehicle. When it moved the rest of the board read ‘Double check
your target’. The penny dropped.
By lunch time we were in Whangarei. The first stop was at the
Quarry Arts Centre. It is very much a work in progress. There were a few things
to see, but not a lot to occupy our time.
Despite Irene’s trepidation I elected
to drive into the town. It was not that difficult and soon we were parked by
the riverside. Lunch was at a riverside café and then we headed up the river.
We walked by Claphams Clock Museum, with its giant sundial and on to Reyburn
House. This was a gallery selling the work of local artists. We had a good
conversation with one of the volunteers who explained that this one of the
first houses to be built and in those days the only way to Auckland was by sea.
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| Victorian Shelter |
Then we walked on to look over the sculpture park before
walking back to the car and away. It was already getting late and we were
becoming increasing sure that the ‘Kawiti Glow Worm Caves’ would be closed. It
was gone the 4.00 pm deadline when we turned off the highway at Waiomio. When
we arrived the only people there was a group of young men. Obligingly two of
them took our money and took us into the caves. One of them explained that
about 200 years ago the caves were discovered. Apparently an unhappy wife ran
away from home and went to live in the caves. However, a tribe of Maoris
spotted the smoke of her fire coming out of the cave. They found her and took
her into their care. The caves have been passed down the generations to the
family, which included the young men who had hosted our tour. They were really
kind and took us back the way that we had come rather than climb 150 steps up
and a hike down through the bush. On the way out we had to squeeze by a coach
party.
The caves were very white limestone with stalactites and
stalagmites. A river ran along below the boardwalk. When the lights were turned
off there was the spectacle of lights on the ceiling. They have an amazing life
style which involves dangling threads to trap the passing insects which had
emerged from the larvae in the river.
It was then a short drive to the toilets. As we walked around
the toilets other visitors were heard to say that they never thought that they
would be taking pictures of toilets. These toilets were special. They were the
public toilets ay Kawakawa. Mr. Hunderwasser was an artist cum poet. The other
features of this tiny town were the sculptures, the murals and its railway
station. There was also a good place to buy ice cream, once the local youths
had gotten theirs.
Our journey then continued passed the ‘Northland Region
Corrections Facility’ to what, we hoped would be our base in the small town of
Kaikohe. On paper the town looks small but with good shopping facilities.
The first problem came as we arrived at the New Haven Motel.
The receptionist presented us with key. While I drove the car in Irene turned
the key in the lock to be met by someone who was already in occupation. Then we
were told that we were a day early, but we were offered a larger unit at the
same price, at least for one night. Next we wanted a meal. We did want to go to
MacDonald’s and asked the receptionist. He directed us to the RSA (Returned and
Service Association). We had been to one in Sydney. It was a huge building with
swimming pool, gym, high quality restaurant and casino). The one we went to at
Kaikohe was very much different. It was a bar and it did serve food, but the
best evening meal was the all-day breakfast. The people there were very kind.
When we arrived back to the motel the music was still going
on. When we arrived the receptionist apologised for the noisy neighbour. We
thought that it something like a school fete and would end soon. In fact it
went on until 6.30 in the morning. The volume and the bass were totally
horrendous. Despite having my hearing aids and tissue stuffed in my ears there
was little sleep that night. Before getting out of bed we had searched for and
found alternative accommodation elsewhere. Most people we spoke to did not hear
the noise. They were workers who lived nowhere near the town.
Today the destination was ‘Ninety Mile Beach’. On a previous
journey we had been to the top of the peninsular along which the beach runs.
But today we decided to find the northern start of the beach. This meant a
tortuous drive over the mountains to a place called Ahipara. On the map it
looks like a compact town, but it is really a road or to with houses scattered
about. The only eatery we could see on Google (at low resolution) was ‘Aunty
G’s Limited’ which looked more like a private house. However, on the way in we
found a more modern café for our morning break.
It was easy to drive to the beach. I chose to park on some
hard standing. The advice was that only 4-wheel drives should go on to the
beach. After about 100 yards of soft sand the beach was rock solid and even the
heaviest vehicles left no mark. We walked for a while along the golden sand by
the blue water and white waves. We could see where the peninsular swung around
to where the beach continued straight for many miles.
Reluctantly we left and started our way to our new holiday
home in Paihia. Stop one was at the MacDonald’s at Kaitaia for lunch and then
were found our way on to the highway heading east along the southern coast.
Suddenly there appeared a spectacular bay. This was ‘Doubtless Bay’. I can
imagine the first arrivals looking at the place with no doubt that they had
found something good. It was beautiful, apart from the abandoned house to left
of the bay.
After a little walk on the sand we moved on. It was at this
point I banged the sole of my foot on to something and spent the next few days
walking in pain.
Our next stop was at Kerikeri. The object was to revisit ‘The
Stone Store’. This is said to be the oldest stone house in New Zealand and used
to protect valuable goods. A similar stone store, nearby, burned to the ground.
It is in a lovely spot by the river. This time we did not take the tour which
would have meant bare feet, to protect the floor on the upper storey. A second
objective was to revisit Matakana chocolate factory and purchase some of their
special chocolate for the family. With all objectives met we set off to find
our new holiday home in Paihia.
The Alfa Boutique Motel is on the opposite edge of town from
Waitangi. It showed clearly on the Google map. I wander if this is because we
had searched for it on the phone SATNav. The access to the motel was down a
steep slope and the parking was underneath the rooms. The owner was very kind
and, once more, we were directed to the RSA for our evening meal. Our
belongings had to be dragged up the steps to the unit. Once in it proved to be
an ideal place for us. The entrance was through a small kitchen which was
equipped with two electric rings and a microwave. The main room was quite large
and airy with a double bed and a single bed plus chairs at a table indoors and
a similar arrangement on the balcony. There was also the inevitable TV and two
easy chairs next to a coffee table. Off this room was a more than adequate
bathroom with shower stall. The control was clearly marked and the meant hot,
warm or cold.
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| We left on a wet morning |
Once unpacked we made our way to the RSA. This time the door
was not locked to be opened by a receptionist. There were the membership forms
which we began to fill in. However, they needed to be signed by a member. At
that moment the owner of the Alfa Boutique Motel turned up and signed us in. It
was a well laid out building. There was the bar area, a games area and highly
polished floor that seemed to be for entertainment. Upstairs was a restaurant
area which would rival a number of similar places nearby.
Before going upstairs we bought our drinks. This time it was
Irene’s turn to choose the glasses out of the refrigerator. A notice instructs
members and guests to return their glasses to the bar. Once upstairs we found
that almost all the tables were reserved. The food was served almost like an
English carvery. There was a choice of two meets, which had to be ordered, and then
the customer added their own choice of vegetables. It was almost an English
Sunday roast with kumara. We had to take our meal downstairs.
The following day we set off to the Haruru Falls. This too
was a revisit. Last time Joe decided to frighten mum by standing on the edge.
Having taken my pictures we waited as a couple with a drone attempted to get it
flying. After watching their unsuccessful attempts we left.
From the car park I turned left along the Haruru Falls Road
in the direction of Waitangi. Once through the unsealed section in the bush the
road came out with a view of Waitangi.
This time we did not visit treaty
grounds as this would have cost £40. However we did go in to the treat ground café.
We could see the roof over the waka (Maori canoe). Nothing else was visible.
From here we found food and sat by the river. We watched as a
modern waka went by carrying a party of tourist. After a look at the local
school’s Maori area we went to park the car at the motel. The aim now was to go
to the historic area. This was full of information about the earliest landings
of Europeans at the Bay of Islands.
Before going to the historic area we climbed the lookout. All
day we had been fascinated by the comings and goings from the cruise ship in
the bay. We watched as ferries ploughed to and fro on the choppy sea. This must
have been something like how the early settlers landed. No large port was built
here. After the signing of the 1840 treaty the capital was moved to Auckland
where the harbour can now handle at least three of the largest cruise liners as
well as the tons of good that pass through the port daily.
The kindness of the British towards the Maoris, compared to
the less kind treatment by the French helped to seal the relationships between
the new comers and the indigenous people. This resulted in the only treat
between European colonists and the people who already occupied the land.
The church yard had the graves of a number of people who were
the first British colonists. And the church was a solid stone building with a
highly polished wooden floor. Oddly, the spire was over the entrance door
rather than the transept. Just as we were about to leave the heavens opened and
we waited until the worst went over. Then we set off in search of our evening
meal. This time it would be a microwave meal from Countdown. On the walk we
passed Paihia’s answer to the Hunderwasser toilets.
Sadly, our last night in this beautiful place was over and it
was time to hit the road back to Auckland. The plan was to call into the
Pioneer Village in Kaikohe, then to the oldest kauri tree and finally to the
kauri museum at Matakohe.
The journey to the Pioneer Village in Kaikohe was long, but
easy and soon we were back to the town where our journey began. At the Village
we had a wonderful guide who took over the entire morning showing us all the
fascinating things they had. A lot of work needs to be done by way of cataloguing
and preservation.
The begonia house was beautiful.
Before we left we asked about the noise on Saturday night. No
one lived nearby, but the older lady said that she had had to have her house
insulated and double glazed. The younger one explained that since the
Christchurch earthquake people were moving into this area which was not on the
fault line. How strange that the place where Europeans first landed and then
deserted turns out to some of the most stable land in the country.
The younger lady was also able to direct us to a modern café where
we could have our lunch.
The road to the kauri tree took us to the small towns of
Opononi and Omapere. These two towns were along the road along an estuary which
had a huge sandbank on the opposite side.
Here we found an iSite and had our
route to Tane Mahuta confirmed. This tree was by the 24km of winding roads along the west coast. It
is strange that there is no one on the road when you are driving but at the
place that you are visiting are dozens of cars. This was true of this visit
there was a large picnic area opposite the tree which we visited. It is truly magnificent
and the only way I could photograph was by lying on my back. The tree is said
to be around 2000 years old and like all kauris is threatened by disease.
An equally long drive took us to the town of Dargaville.
Irene insisted that I rest and we found the riverside park. The river here is
very wide but very brown. A large area of land has been reclaimed; much for the
growing of kumara.
It was now obvious that we would not make it to our final
place of interest. For mile after mile we went along the Wairoa River. At one
point we left the road to find the toilets. There is no way that I can find the
place on the map but there was a large gravel area next to the river and the
toilets. I say this to underline the incongruity of the place. The toilet was
futuristic. The sliding door was opened by a push button and locked by a push
button. I almost panicked when I could not get out of the door even though it
said that it unlocked. It was then that Irene reminded me that it was a sliding
door. She never locked her toilet door.
Having failed on our mission we turned into the village of
Paparoa. On the right was a hotel and bar where we pulled in for our evening
meal. A lot of seafood was on offer which would not have been good for my
digestion, so we settled for salad, fish and chips. I made the mistake of
asking for vinegar. It was at the point I knew that I was in a foreign country.
Everyone was kind and the food was delicious.
Onwards we drove following a sign to Brynderwyn. The place
was not on the map and turned out to be a motel with café and bus stop. In the
UK the signs would have told us how far it was to the highway not a motel at
the place where the road we were on met the SH1. Southward we travelled and our
needs were for a sweet, petrol and, hopefully, a car wash. All this we found at
Warkworth. We even paid our toll fees.
When we drove off I noticed that the tank was not full and so
I drove on to a filling station at Green Lane and from here home.
