Fri 11 March
We woke up on Friday morning to a really unusual weather event. It was raining a little, the first time since we've been in NZ. We threaded our way out of the city, across the big, high harbour bridge and headed north on State Highway one. It took a couple of hours to shake the rain off but we succeeded by the time we reached Whangarei where we stopped for a break and some lunch by the Town Basin, a lovely area with shops, cafes and many boats at their moorings.
We carried on towards Paihia and, as we were about to pass a sign for Kawiti Glow Worm Caves, we made a spur of the moment decision to turn off and we were so pleased we did. We were taken on a three-person guided tour of some glow worm caves that of course were quite cool and damp, with huge stalactites and stalagmites all around us, including some appropriately named 'Headbanger'! The magic happened when the guide, a 13th generation young man of the same Maori family that's owned the area for all those generations, switched off his torch. As our eyes adjusted to the dark, first tens and then hundreds of glow worms were revealed to us, it was like when you're somewhere without light pollution and you stare up at the stars and more and more become visible. Quite majestic.
And so on to The Retreat, the place we'd booked as our R&R spot for four nights, knowing that by now we'd be likely to be feeling tired after four weeks of travel, which in fact we were. Our accommodation was more like a little cottage with a deck/balcony giving great views towards Paihia and the Islands, an ideal spot to relax.
Sat 12 March
We drove up to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the site of the signing of a treaty by 40 Maori tribal leaders in 1840, a significant place and event if ever there was one. We were treated to an informative guided tour by the great great grandson of one of those original signatories, giving us even more of an insight into the Treaty than we had learned up to now. There was then a nice cultural performance of song and dance. A new museum opened on the site in February 2016 so we looked round that too, it was very interesting and very well done.
We were at the Treaty Grounds for about four hours and after a picnic lunch we set off on a 1.5 hour walk to the Haruru Falls that we had read about. Most of the walks we've done up to now have taken us less time than described so we half expected this one to only be an hour on the outward leg, however we were wrong as it did take the full time to reach the falls. Along the way we'd seen and heard a tree full of white headed herons with their young, we'd been followed by the sweet little fantails and had also walked through mangrove forest on a long, winding boardwalk so lots to see. The falls when we reached them were very impressive, as you can see in the photo below. I recorded the walk on Strava to see how far it was and was surprised when we finished to see we'd walked 5.9 miles, but we did more than that because I didn't remember to start recording until after the first half hour. That's why I'm grateful of the comfy chair I'm sitting in writing this, looking onto the bay in such peaceful surroundings.
Sun 13 March
So, what to write about today? There was bound to be a day like this when our wires were completely crossed, has the sun addled our brains perhaps? We set off for a drive northwards, aiming for a spot near the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach. We stopped at a few places and saw the Stone Store at Kerikeri, stopped for coffee at Mongonui and walked along the beach at Cable Bay within the larger Doubtless Bay. The almost completely deserted beaches has been quite a surprise, must be because there are so many and the sun shines so much more than the odd day in the UK that causes gridlock on the roads and between beach towels. After Cable Bay we continued on to Waipapakauri Beach and were stunned by the awesome sight of waves breaking along Ninety Mile Beach. We had a beach picnic watching the surfers and people sea fishing and it was around then that our crossed wires sparked, with me thinking we were going to start making our way back with more stops but Nicky wanting to go further north. For those Game of Thrones fans reading this, it wasn't that I was afraid of going North only to discover an evil race there, just that I hadn't envisaged spending too long in the car while up here. So anyway, we did go further north but were thwarted in two separate attempts to drive to a beach because of unsealed roads, the shortest of which was 4km. So we turned around and stopped at Houhora Heads and then again at Tokerau Beach, with a final stop at Whangaroa where there was a lovely little harbour.
Mon 14 March, my favourite.
(Written on our balcony in hot sunshine with a beer in hand, it doesn't get any better than this, as Greg would say in Masterchef, appropriate as I was simmering nicely in my sunscreen).
Oh dear, inevitably starting to face reality and the fact we have to return home five days from now! Very glad to have two days in Singapore to look forward to. Please crank up the Spring sunshine though folks otherwise we simply won't cope!
We made a leisurely start, driving into Paihia and catching the little passenger ferry across to Russell, less than twenty minutes across the water. What an absolutely lovely little village Russell is, hard to believe it was once nicknamed Hell Hole of the North due to its lawless nature, I blame the Aussie rum traders (or the French!). After a wander round and a nice large latte we followed a steep 20-minute walk over to Long Beach in Oneroa Bay and what a gem! Picture the warmest, sunniest, quietest, most picturesque beach you've ever been to and you're right here with us. Beautiful, incredible, delightful. I wish you could all have been with us there on that beach.
We popped back across the water, bought a few bits in the NZ equivalent of Tesco Express and then spent an ever so energetic afternoon on our balcony drinking beer and cider. As the saying goes, 'It's a hard life but someone's got to do it'!
If you time it right with the tides it's possible to walk down the hill from our cottage, along the beach and around the point to reach Paihia town, so that was how we decided to make our way in for an evening meal. It took only around half an hour to walk round and we found a table at Only Seafood, where fortunately the fish wasn't off. We had a really tasty meal and mine truly was one of the best of my life -
A large bowl of the huge green-lipped mussels in a gorgeous red Thai and coconut sauce, it was de-lic-ious! Nicky had locally caught Snapper that was also incredibly tasty. After the meal we had a choice between returning by the same route or on the pavement, so as the only light was from the partial moon and a galaxy of stars we chose to return via the sea route, which was a challenge with one small keyring torch. Yes, feet did get wet a few times as we navigated through rock pools and we even startled a crab that swiftly scurried away. A 100% glorious day.
Little side note - yesterday in the car there was a song on the radio that went something like 'One day you'll leave this world behind. So live a life that you'll remember'. How very true and apt.
No comments:
Post a Comment