Blogs from Mangawhai, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Into my second week of work and I was only in for two days ! This conveniently tied in with a midweek birthday so I didn’t have to worry about getting up the next day after going out on the lash. Also went bowling for the first time in about five years! So was a wee bit rusty to start with (first two goes = 1 pin and gutter ball = shit). Played a couple of games and I managed to rustle up some average scores. Had nice and sunny weather on the Thursday so I went to One Tree Hill- another volcanic peak - around 180m high that also backs on to Cornwall Park which is really nice and scenic. Unfortunately I couldn’t get my dodgy Cannon camera to get a good picture. After fiddling ... read more

Across a shell covered shallow ocean bottom, I wade across to a sand bar and look back at the mountain track I've just completed. The Maungatauhoro Te Hiko (A Journey through Tauhoro Mountain) track is a 2.9 km track through the heart of Wenderholm Regional Park. Wenderholm, meaning winter home, was once home to a prominent European settler, Robert Graham but is now known, as it still stands, as Cauldry House, named for the last owner. I left Piha early this morning in an attempt to go out to Tiritiri Matangi, an island wildlife preserve, but got lost and didn't make the ferry. I headed up to Orewa, where I had planned to spend the night, and from there passed Waiwera and stumbled upon Wenderholm. It was a beautiful hike where at every lookout point you ... read more