Whangarei, Doubtless Bay, Cape Reinga, and giant Kauri trees

On 90 Mile Beach, New Zealand

After spending two and a half days looking after the logistics of arriving in a new country, we were looking forward to being on the road again.  Like England, the vehicles are right-hand drive . . . but we didn't have to pay extra to get an automatic here.  The roads in New Zealand are practically empty, and are very well maintained.  Even getting through Auckland was a breeze.  We headed out to the fabulous 'northland' of the north island for what proved to be an amazing 10 days.

The colourful Agapanthus 'weed' that grows everywhere.  Gorgeous
big flower heads in blue and white line the highways and roads
everywhere you go.  So pretty.  

Travelling Auckland north to Whangarei.  First stop
along the road was this beautiful forest trail called Moirs
Hill Walkway to Pohuehue waterfall.  Check out the giant
ferns.  The waterfall was tiny.

Stop number two - the tiny town of Waiwera on the Hibiscus Coast Highway.
The homes were reminiscent of 60s and 70s style homes - it felt like a step back in time.

We quickly realized that the theme for this trip is likely to be 'spectacular natural beauty'.  There's not a lot of old history, small side roads or quaint villages here as we found in England and Scotland.  And there's not the huge cultural difference that we experienced in Bali - the people here are like Canadians with a funny accent.  Super friendly and down to earth.

Sand Dunes leading out to the beach at
Marsden Point

Love this dune plant - I think it's called Spinifex.  It has the most wonderful 
little 'star explosion' flower-like things that feel like straw.

There are miles of beaches here.  And most of them are practically empty.  The water is crystal clear, and the beaches are 100% garbage-free.  Cigarettes cost $23 /pack here, so it's rare to see a smoker, therefore rare to see cigarette butts littering the ground.  The trees and flowers are so different from what we have at home, and all very beautiful.

Waterfall at Whangarei

The beach at Matapouri Bay - an hour or so  from Whangarei.  
A local told us it was "very crowded" today!?!  

We hiked over the hill in the distance at Matapouri Bay (photo above)
and found this little cove and viewpoint on the other side.
One of the locals told us it's a great snorkelling beach.

Our first stop was at Whangarei, where we stayed with the fabulous Caroline and Peter Viskovich.  I have dubbed them the platinum of AirBnB hosts.  We felt instantly at home with them, and shared several glasses of wine on their lovely patio overlooking the pool.  On our second evening, they invited us to have a meal of fresh snapper with them, so I cobbled together a salad and a fruit salad, Caroline did some potato salad and Peter bbq'd the fish.  Delicious and a wonderful evening getting to know each other.  Caroline had put together several maps for us, and printed off a few sheets showing shopping and areas she thought we would like to visit.  Just a super kind couple - I sure hope our paths cross again sometime.

Whangarei superhosts - Peter and Caroline.  Such nice people.
If you are travelling north in NZ, stay at their AirBnB
in Whangarei.  You won't be disappointed.

The pool and patio area just outside our rooms at Whangarei.
Perfect to cool off and relax after a day of sightseeing and touring around.

Peter is a fisher - this shark jaw was one of his conquests!

We stayed in the area for three nights, our first day exploring the beaches of the east coast near Matapouri and Ngunguru, and the next day out through Dargaville to see the ancient Kauri trees of Waipoua forest of the west coast,  and back through places with fun names like Opononi and Omapere, Kawakawa and Hikurangi.  

Saw my first Jacaranda tree in Whitianga.  So pretty

Pink Oleander tree.  Thanks to my friend Jamie in Portugal
for identifying it for me :-)

The names here are rather delicious - you pull lots of vowels into your mouth, add in a P, M K, R or WH, swirl them around a few times and then try to send them back out with the correct pronunciation.  Which is usually wrong.  They are very fond of vowels here, and it's best to pronounce them all.  If you can.  And WH is pronounced F - I have no idea why.

Kauri bark - smooth and rough at the same time

The largest Kauri tree - estimated to be between 2000 and 3000 years old.
It's 16.5 meters in girth. 

Ancient Kauri tree forest.  These used to cover most of NZ, but most were
logged off and the remainder seem to be succumbing to some sort of fungus.
This is a baby compared to the one above.

A childhood friend of mine from Winnipeg, who now resides in New Zealand, has made a documentary about the Kauri - this is the link to it if you are interested:  http://www.songofthekauri.com

A sand dune island near Omapere on the west coast.  We're told that 
local kids 'snowboard' down the hill.

Too bad Peter and Caroline had new guests moving in after us, or we would have stayed a little longer.  But all good things come to an end, and there's always a new adventure waiting around the corner.  We headed for the 'northland' the next day, again driving through stunning scenery - one moment it felt like we were back in England, around the next corner was reminiscent of the Vernon area of BC, another corner and the beaches looked like somewhere in the Caribbean.  Unfortunately at this point, we had both developed hacking coughs and nasty cold symptoms.  I was not feeling particularly well, and just wanted to get to the AirBnb and go to sleep.  

A car ferry at Opua in the Bay of Islands - we stopped here on our way to Doubtless Bay.   It's about a 10 minute crossing and we thought about taking it over to the island to look around, but we weren't feeling great, so carried on up the road.

We arrived at our new home-away-from-home at a gorgeous spot in Cable Cove on Doubtless Bay.  The view from our little apartment is stunning, as is the garden surrounding the house.  We have our own space on the ground floor - 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bath and laundry.  Perfect.  I had a nice long sleep and felt much better the next day.  

View from our patio table at the AirBnB in Doubtless Bay.  
It was a short 5-minute walk down to the beach and 
a ten minute drive to several more beaches.

We did some touring around the area on day one here, and at the end of the day went out for fish and chips at the world famous place in Mangonui Bay.  Wow!  Nice spot, but stupidly expensive for what was basically take-out food.  $13 for a bowl of chowder???  They charged $3 for a small plastic cup of tartar sauce and $4 for a small can of 'tomato sauce' (aka ketchup) to go with the fish and chips.

Nice spot for a restaurant. See the winding little road
behind it that follows the shoreline

Loved the view.  Didn't love the food prices.

Fish boat unloading fresh snapper at Mangonui Bay

I like how they artfully arrange the snappers in the box

Bait ready to be put on the long lines

There are so many beaches here it's ridiculous.  Miles and miles and miles of sand, waves and shells.  Glen is in heaven - he loves to walk the beach looking for interesting shells.  I feel like we've stepped into a time warp and gone back to 1972.  The houses are simple, not oversized.  There are no fast food places or big chain stores, just little mom and pop type shops and cafes.  Everything is clean.  The ocean is so clear - and it's warm.  We haven't gone swimming, but have done lots of wading as we wander the shoreline.

Merita on the Karikari Peninsula.  Took us about an
hour and a half to walk to the far end of this beach.

Beautiful Pohutukawa tree at the end of Merita beach.
That's all one tree - they are huge!

Pohutukawa flowers and buds

When the Pohutukawa flowers fall off, they
leave a beautiful red residue on the ground

Glen has fallen in love with the paua shell and is on a mission to find them on the beach.  The only problem is that they really can only be found by diving.  So he talks to everyone about them, and so far our AirBnB hosts have given him two, and a lady he met on the beach today actually came up to the apartment tonight to give him three!  He wants to take them home to clean them off and make them look like the ones you can buy in the souvenir shops.

Two of the paua shells Glen was given.  These are 'unfinished'
and measure about 6" x 3"

I took this photo off pauaworld.com  It's a polished paua
ready for sale.  Glen wants to do it himself.  They are very pretty

Our second day here, we drove a half hour to a little town called Kaitaia where we joined a bus tour at a company called Harrisons Cape Runner.  They have specially made vehicles that ride up a beach called 90 Mile Beach for about 40 miles, then turn up a quicksand river to the Te Paki sand dune area where we went sand tobogganing.  From there, we turned the bus inland, and drove up to Cape Reinga (pronounced Ree-ing-a.  No hard G.  That's really hard for a Canadian mouth.).  Cape Reinga is the far northwest tip of the north island.  It's not quite the most northerly spot - that's about 2 km to the east.  Quite a beautiful spot and full of Maori historical significance.

We aren't big on tours - but this one was well worth it!  $50
for a full day and the driver was so entertaining and full of
information on the area and its history.  And it included lunch!

On 90 Mile Beach.   

Glen is climbing the Te Paki sand dune - it's a looooong way up!

Te Paki Sand dune - from the parking lot

I found out it's a good idea to keep your mouth closed when
boogie boarding down a sand dune.  It's not like tobogganing in snow!

Where you see the white water is where the Tasman Sea meets
the Pacific Ocean.  The lighthouse is Cape Reinga

Vancouver made the cut for this sign at Cape Reinga!

Cape Reinga - if you look closely, there is a Pohutukawa tree
growing off the right cliff.  It has never bloomed.  

There is a Maori legend about Cape Reinga - click here if you're interested - it's a fun story. This cape is the most spiritually significant place in NZ for the Maori.  

From there, we stopped at a little beach called Tapotupotu for lunch, provided by the company, went a little further on to another swimming beach, stopped for ice cream at a small outpost town called Te Kao - it was $4 for a waffle cone with 'one scoop'.  Apparently they can't count very well in Te Kao.  We were given 2 1/2 very generous scoops.  Maybe they give the bus passengers a little extra - I don't know.  But I wasn't complaining!  

Sweet little ice cream shop stop - right out of the 1950s!

At a beach on one of our stops - traditional Maori gate

At the end of the tour, we stopped at the 'Ancient Kauri Kingdom', which is a place that sells items made of Kauri wood.  The most interesting part of the store was the staircase that goes from one level to the next - it's an old Kauri trunk that's got a staircase carved into the inside of the trunk.  Very clever.

Kauri tree trunk staircase inside the shop

The tour was only $50 and lasted from 9 am until 5 pm.  Well worth it - the driver was so knowledgeable about the area, the history and the plants.  It was educational, fun and something we wouldn't have been able to experience driving on our own.

Pohutukawa tree by the shore.  See the young
girl in it to get an idea of the scale of these
beautiful trees.  This was a small one.

Our last day in the northland was spent beach combing again, along with a small hike in the village of Hihi (pronounce here - makes me laugh every time!)   The weather is beautiful - mid to high twenties with a bit of a breeze.  It's an incredibly peaceful place to be.  If I weren't so curious about the rest of the country, I think I'd just settle in for the next month and read several books!

I think my old pal Kathy Pratt and I should live here!  Heehee!
It's likely only she will understand this comment.

Love these trees - they are everywhere.

These are Silk Tree flowers - similar to the Pohutukawa, but
pink and coral coloured

Red Pohutukawa flower petals on the beach

A Silk Tree in bloom - stunning!

Pretty little New Zealand gull.