Days 3 to 7 of NZ 2022

DAY 3: I had to begin the day by looking at more Pohutukawa trees.  I have always thought of NZ Christmas trees as a bush.  As you can see they are anything but. 

 

Soon after,  we properly began the day by doing a walk around the Wenderholm Nature Reserve.  Quite steep,  and a little muddy in one section,  but beautiful,  travelling through one of the few remaining stands of littoral rainforest.  Very different from any littoral rainforest in Australia. Was surprised to see Eastern Rosellas around! Ring-ins from across the Tasman. 

More incredible trees. The Pūriri tree has lovely pink flowers that are scattered all over the forest floor. 

Another tall tree,  up to 30m is the Rawerawa, a member of the Protea family. It's flower is similar to a grevillea and the Eastern Rosellas like it!

There were plenty of Nīkau, the world's most southerly naturally occurring palm. 

And plenty of beautiful lichenised bark and epiphytes galore.

Morning tea done with,  we left to head north to Uretiti. On the way,  we passed through an old German settlement.  It had a church called 'Saints Peter and Paul Church'  - obviously someone couldn't make up their mind!

Next we stopped at the cliff tops at Mangawhai (wh = f) where it was blowing a gale.  Nevertheless a short walk up the headland yielded a great view. 

We then had a couple of thwarted attempts at sightseeing.  Google showed us a way to see 'natural arch' that led to a private road with massive locked gates.  We tried to see some pancake rocks but the walk there was closed.  After our first test of NZ water - crossing a creek - only to find the rest of the track closed,  we headed down to a little beach to be rewarded with another Pohutukawa tree, this one housing tiny little gardens in its gnarled trunk. 

We next checked out the campsite at Uretiti, but before setting up camp,  headed to The Waipu caves,  which had been recommended to us as a good place to visit by the campground manager. What he didn't tell us is that we would need beach shoes and headtorches to traverse the cave.  We were able to go in a little to get a glimpse of what might have been. 

We decided instead to do a walk nearby, but I misread the sign.  We walked for about 25 mins with the track obviously getting nowhere fast but we did pass through beautiful forest with lovely limestone rocks. 

It turned out that the track was 45mins one way and with not enough daylight to do it and cook dinner,  our choice to turn back was a good one. 

The beach at Uretiti was lovely in the evening and the waters calm enough to see Australasian Gannets floating in the water, and Kelp Gull adults and juveniles in the beach. 

DAY 4: We set our sights on getting to Matapouri today.  There were a few places to see on the way,  first store Whangarei (wh =f). This is the last city in the north and it is a busy commercial/ retail centre.  We first visited a small art exhibition at the Hihiaua Maori Cultural Centre and then took a look at a tsarist Maori canoes they were building out the back.  Full of rowers these would be a sight to behold. 

We then ended our way through a park of sculpture and history-revealing information boards to the art hub of town. 

Here we took a look at one of the few pieces of architecture designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, an Austrian avant-garde artist who spent most of the last 30 years of his life in the north of NZ. A remarkable building,  the construction of which must have raised some challenge!

After browsing a few shops, we took a look inside the clock museum.  Outside,  in the pedestrian mall was the appetite-whetter, a motorised clicked that tells the time through a type of marble maze. 

Inside was an incredible array of clocks and watches of every description.  One was a grandfather clock made from matchsticks. 

On our way out of town we stopped at Whangarei Falls,  apparently the most photographed falls in NZ. We added to the photo count.  A rather impressive amount of water flows over these falls. 

There is a small but lovely loop walk around the Falls that also passes by a park where trees have been planted as a memorial to those killed in the Christchurch massacre,  one for each victim. This event must have affected all New Zealanders.  

After reaching our free carpark camp for the night,  a beautiful bay at Matapouri, we decided to do the walk over the headland, up and around to Whale Bay.  Another beautiful walk,  through forest,  past farmland then back through forest down to an idyllic beach. 

We were the only ones there - unbelievable. I took my first dip in the fresh waters of NZ. 

This was Matapouri Bay itself.  A tough spot to overnight!

DAY 5: A lazy breakfast and stroll on the beach was in order before we made a move further north towards the Bay of Islands. There are a number of little bays and villages along the way.  Auckland's money has found many of these hideaways with the beachside baches starting to make way for the rather bigger dwellings of sea-changers. The coast road,  which we took for the most part is a very winding one. The countryside is sooo green.

After a while we reached the historic town of Russell (was known as Okiato), New Zealand's first capital and,  in its early days, the centre of vice and crime.  Many ex-convicts from across the Tasman came across here to join whaling or sealing boats or just to join in the debauchery. There are a number of old buildings and quite a good museum that tells the history of the early settlement.

This is an old printery where the first NZ bible was printed. It was part of a French mission. The French were,  at the time,  still trying to establish a colony here too. 

Other interesting buildings include an old hotel and the old police station,  now used as the police residence.  

There was also a massive Moreton Bay Fig tree next to the police station.  I wonder how long it has been there. 

Russell is still a bit behind the times ...

Our day ended up in Paihia, the main tourist centre of the Bay of Islands.  Our caravan park site was the most expensive and one of the most basic we've ever stayed in.  A walk along the foreshore to dinner and laundromat ended our day.  These Varied Oystercatchers are everywhere along this eastern coast. Apparent they were endangered but are coming back well now with some protection of habitat. 

DAY 6: A cruise on the Bay of Islands.  It was a perfect day weather-wise for this most scenic of harbours.  The waters were calm (thank goodness) and we scored a great position on the boat - standing up right at the back.  A cruise really is the only way to see the extent of the islands and to appreciate the beauty of the place.  We got off at one of the islands so could walk around for about an hour and a half. 

Here are a few photos. 

The island where we got off, Urepukupuku, is the only one in which you can camp. People live on some but many are really only rocky outcrops. 

Near the Hole in the Rock we were lucky enough to see a huge school of surface swimming fish. 

After our cruise we headed yet further north. A brief stop on the way to see the Haruru Falls, small but with a thundering amount of water passing over. 

After passing through a lot of farmland - soooo green - we arrived at our free camp at Totara North.

DAY 7: Totara North is a sleepy little village on the edge of a stunning harbour - Whangaroa Harbour/Bay. It is a huge body of water where, but for the first time,  we wished we had a boat to explore in. 

One of the residents informed us that this harbour was a safe haven from tsunamis because of a very narrow (200m we found our later) entrance.  Mmmm - maybe???

Our real destination for the day was Cape Reinga,  the most northerly point of mainland NZ. We had another perfect day for this.  I had imagined it would be blowing a gale as in the south of WA at Cape Leeuwin but it wasn't. 

This point is also where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean.  A fierce clash of waters.  Wouldn't like to be in a boat in the middle of this. 

After lunched we walked down to a nearby beach,  a good climb up and down! There were some wonderful views on the way,  of both the coast and of the coastal heath.  So very different from the heath back in NSW.

We also stopped at a little bay on the eastern side of the Cape,  Taputaputa Beach. I went for a bit of a mooch around the beach and hills. 

We ended a wonderful day sleeping in a carpark (a designated free camp) at Awanui. What depths we have sunk to! It is great to have the freedom of a campervan.