Bay Of Islands

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Saturday 20th November

We caught our Magic Bus early in the morning and proceeded to haul to the coastal town of Paihia situated in the Bay of Islands area In the most Northern point of NZ. We had our breakfast stop at Otangarei on route and kind of just took the scenery in all the way to Paihai.

It was around 2pm when we arrived at Paihai and immediately we fell in love with the place. The sun was shining bright and the beaches and coastal waters looked amazing. There are lots of small Islands dotted around the coast here with the town of Russell visible across the bay.
It’s a gorgeous little town and some of the houses up on the steep sides of the hills are stunning.


We arranged our trip for tomorrow which is a trip up to Cape Reina which is the most Northern point of NZ and the meeting place for the Tasman sea and the Pacific Ocean. Our route there will include sand boarding and a bus ride along the Ninety Mile beach.

We have booked into the very nice Yha here which is family run and boasts great facilites aswell as being very clean. Three nights are going to a fitting way to end our NZ trip. We decided to book a Māori Cultural show at the waitangi treaty grounds which will hopefully give us an insight to the history behind the tribes and the whiteman.

The bar down the road has a special backpackers bbq on tonight for $10 with one free beer so we are off down there and enjoyed meeting some new people who arrived here on the same magic bus earlier.

We are fortunate to have the 4 bed dorm to ourselves tonight and get a solid sleep in before tomorrows long day touring North.

Sunday 21st November

We got picked up by our bus driver Mike in the morning and once he had picked up everyone in the town he proceeded to narrate his way through the countryside telling us about where we were heading today. Mike the driver is a bit barmy but aren’t all the bus drivers we’ve had so far?

The weather is a bit changeable today as its grey in parts with the odd ray of sun but at least its not raining.
We stop at Waipapa for morning tea and breakfast and then head further up northland and deep into the Taitokerau region where we stopped at the Manginangina Kauri trees.
Manginangina is part of Puketi-Omahuta forest, one of the best remaining examples of the subtropical rainforest which once covered most of the North island of NZ. This 20,000 hectare only survived the European logging and farm development due to the steepness and poor quality of its soils.

The Kauri tree is a sacred Māori itree which grows to extremely large proportions and we see some very large ones as we walked around the jungle paths. The Māoris worshipped these tree as due to their sheer height they thought they were the pathway to the spirit world. We hugged a large tree and made our way around the rainforest which was very calm and actually quite relieving as some of the smells and birdsongs let you know you are at one with nature.

We head towards the sand dunes at the at Te Paki Stream where we would be doing our sand boarding.

The massive sand dunes stretch for miles and miles and Mike drives the bus off the beaten track and through the Te Paki stream. He drives down the stream for another half mile and pulls over at the base of the sand dunes and orders everyone off. Most people have come prepared like ourselves and get kitted out in our shorts and receive a boogie board each which is about 1/3 the size of a surf board.
Mike gives us a quick demonstration on proper sand boarding and the do’s and don’t’s. It is possible to slide the board all the way through the bottom part and into the stream below.
Once the rules have been laid down he leads us up the sand dunes. The dunes were a struggle due to the steepness and softness of the sand and its awkward carrying the boogie board as the wind catches it throwing you off balance but saying that the excitement was building.

At the top of the 100 metre high sand dune the wind is quite strong coming off the sea and sands bites into your eyes and ears. Mike sends us down one by one and its looking pretty hairy no seeing people sliding down the sand at 30-40mph. You lie on the board with your elbows and hands tight down on the front of the board with your belly on the board and legs hanging off the back.
Im up and ready to go and before I know it im speeding down the hill and steering with my toes hanging off the back of the board. I would say it lasted about 20 seconds before you come to a halt depending on whether you used your feet to brake or not. Some guys before me went right through the flat section at the bottom and skimmed across the stream and got soaked! Cool!!

I watched as Jill came hurtling donw the hill behind me and we both enjoyed it and went back up for more. I think I made about 4 or 5 runs before calling it a day as its very tiring trying to climb the dunes.
Once everyone has had enough we get washed down in the stream and change back into our clothes for the journey onwards towards Cape Reina.

The scenery around these parts are lovely as we drive up and around towards our next stop at Tapotupotu Bay. We stopped for lunch at this beautiful bay and the sun came out which made it all more like a picnic in the sun by the sea. Some guys who had stayed in their sand boarding gear got some boogie boards out and tried their hand at surfing in the metre high waves that were crashing down into the bay. The sea we were looking out too was actually the Pacific Ocean as we are still facing North East from this particular bay.
We dodged some kamikaze seagulls on the way back to the bus and then headed 5 miles around the coastal road to Cape Reina.

Cape Reinga is in the northwesternmost tip of the Aupouri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand.
The name of the cape comes from the Māori word 'Reinga', meaning the 'Underworld'. Another Māori name is 'Te Rerenga Wairua', meaning the leaping-off place of spirits. Both refer to the Māori belief that the cape is the point where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld.

Cape Reinga is generally considered the separation marker between the Tasman Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. From the lighthouse it is possible to watch the tidal race, as the two seas clash to create unsettled waters just off the coast. The Māori refer to this as the meeting of Te Moana-a-Rehua, 'the sea of Rehua' with Te Tai-o-Whitirea, 'the sea of Whitirea', Rehua and Whitirea being a male and a female respectively.

As of January 2007, Cape Reinga is on the tentative list of UNESCO waiting to receive World Heritage Site status.

We walked around the Cape Reina walks and headed for the point. At the point there is an old historical lighthouse and a signpost showing various distances to cities around the world. Its very windy but the suns shining and we look out to sea where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific and its totally weird as you can actualy see the two seas meeting. Theres a break in the surf aswell as a distinct colour change as you look out to sea and to our left we can see the massive sandunes of Te Paki which we boarded down earlier.


On the way back we stopped at some veiwpoints and admired the coastal views and marvelled at the historical significance of Reina Point. We jumped aboard our bus and headed back to the spot that we did our sand boarding and instead of stopping we carried on driving down the stream tyre deep in water until we came to a break in the dunes which lead us onto the ninety mile beach.

The name Ninety Mile Beach is a misnomer because it is actually 55 miles long. Several theories have been advanced for the name, the most common stemming from the days when missionaries travelled on horse back when on average a horse could travel 30 miles in a day before needing to be rested. The beach took three days to travel therefore earning its name, but the missionaries did not take into account the slower pace of the horses walking in the sand, thus thinking they had travelled 90 miles when in fact they had only travelled 55.

We drove along the beach for about 2 miles and we all got out for some photos and to admire the hole in the rock offshore in the distance.
When we got back on the bus Mike carried on driving down the beach at 50/60mph and was trying to race one of his mates in a bus in front of us. They were zig zagging across the beach in front of each other having fun and getting people on the bus to wave at each other as they took it turns to overtake each other.

The other bus pulled off for a stop and we carried on for another 45 minutes just driving down the beach just a matter of metres from the waves coming up the beach too our right and sand dunes to our left
It felt really weird driving this far along the beach and we took it in turns to come up the front of the bus for a better view of the beach and dunes.
Eventually we turned off the beach and headed for the Matakohe Kauri and Pioneer Museum, which details how the native Kauri trees played a significant role toward shaping the new nation. Mike dropped us here for twenty minutes whilst he went off to clean the sand out the bus and give it a hose down as it was minging after our hurl down the beach.

Some of the stuff in the museum was very nice indeed with hand cut wooded sofas and chairs for sale at 25 grand down to 10 grand (pounds). All the Kauri tree carvings are from very old trees and are all made from one piece of wood usually the base of the trunk. The showcase item here is the hand cut staircase which took one guy two months to cut and another guy two months to smooth off and varnish. I took some photos of the staircase which is a one piece tree trunk before we headed off outside to look at some of the very old untouched tree trunks that littered the yard out back.

We are now coasting along heading for our last stop which was a much anticipated food stop at a local fish and chip shop renowned for its deep fried Hoki and chips. Mike says they are the best Fish 'n' chips in the world and although they were fine we begged to differ as you can’t beat an Aberdeen jumbo Haddock!

That kind of concluded our day trip and we are pretty exhausted now as we made our way home well into the evening. We’ve still got a 4 dorm to ourselves which is nice as we catch up on internet stuff and read our books.

Monday 22nd November

What a glorious morning!! The suns shining bright and hot so we have breakfast and get ready for a wander around Paihia. Its not a big place but the walks you can take along the beachfronts are quite long and on a day like this its nice and relaxing just watching people sailing little sail boats out in the bay. There’s the odd trickle of traffic on the roads with hardly any people sunbathing on the beach which is nice and peaceful.
We walked about a mile along the coast to the local supermarket where we bought ingredients and a bottle of wine for dinner tonight.
On the way back we couldn’t resist buying an ice cream and shared a large 2 scoop cup of honeycomb and boysenberry flavoured ice cream! Afa fine!

We have our dinner and then went to meet out bus which would take us across to the waitangi treaty grounds for our Māori culture show.
The Waitangi treaty ground is where the famous treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand.

Our bus operator Kenneth who is Māori produces the show we are going to see tonight and he asks politely for three volounteers to be chiefs as we need to be accepted by the tribe before we can get into the show. Kenneth explains the protocols to the three guys on our side and they must accept the token gifts the Māori warriors give them and gracefully accept the gift without stepping back once they pick it up.
Also everyone is under strict orders not to use their cameras, smile, laugh or even talk in case we upset the tribesmen. Basically the tribe are acknowledging us and our ancestors and expect us to do the same so we are in mutual agreement and we understand each other to live in harmony together.

We waited in the car park and out of nowhere jumped 5 Māoris dressed in traditional Māori attire. They were shouting and swiping their weapons at us whilst sticking out their tounge and enlarging their eyes. It was all very dramatic and made your hair stand up on end. Our three chiefs took it turns to step forward and when the Māori warrior places the Leaves of offering on the ground the white chief would pick up the leaves and stand still until the Māori warrior accepted he was not threat and came in peace. One by one they did this and the Māori warriors were all the time were swiping and throwing their arms around whilst shouting verbal Māori tribal chants.

We all moved together slowly towards the hall where two female Māori were chanting a welcome song and accepted us to come into the hall to show us their history.

Once inside we were treated to a 90 minute show which explained the origins of Māori and then the history of the arrival of the Europeans and the effect that it had on the tribes. The Māori's have only inhabited New Zealand for around 900 years and decended here from Hawaii.

It was a great little show and was worth a visit as it give you an insight into the history surrounding the Waitngia treaty and also New Zealand's histroy itself.
We got back to our hostel and found we had new roomates from Wales so we left them to it and sat and had our wine and watched a little bit of tv. We are headed back to Aucklad tomorrow and fly out to Oz on the following morning. We cant believe how quickly the last 25 days have passed but at the same time it feels like we’ve been here months it that makes sense.

Tuesday 23rd November

We took an alternative route back to Auckland and drove through Kaiwaka.
We stopped at Tane Mahuta which is the largest Kauri tree in New Zealand. It stands at 52 metres high and the girth of the trunk is 14 metres thick and as you walk through the rain forest and approach it you are in awe of its stature. Its reckoned to be between 1400 and 1600 years old. We took the short trek around the rainforest and hopped back on board the bus.
We are passing through the coastal areas of Mitimiti and on our way to our lunchtime stop at Ruawai which has magic views over the bay and sea. At Ruawai we took in the scenery before heading up for a viewpoint of the bay and rivermouth out to the Tasman Sea.

We finally arrive in Auckland much to the relief of the passengers as nearly everyone was bursting for the toilet!
Our last night in New Zealand! Jills Zonked out so I ventured out into the city and took a walk down to the marina and the bay where the famous Americas cup is held. It’s a dry night and the light isn’t too bad as I walked around the piers and marinas looking at the Tall ships and boats.

On the way home I stopped off at a Yann Arthusbert exhibition which was free and it was amazing. Yann Arthusbert is a famous photographer who has taken some magnificent photos from around the world highlighting the human impact on our enviroment. Google his name and check out his .org site. I promise you wont be dissapointed. I browsed through his whole exhibition and without realising it i'd spent two hours walking around so i headed home and proceeded to get lost in the backstreets of Auckland. I finally got home around 11pm and we are meant to be getting picked up at 4.05am for our shuttle to the airport!! Ah well at least Jill was still up and our bags are fully packed for our two flights to Brisbane then Cairns, Australia.

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Photos

Manginangina - Puketi-Omahuta forest
Kauri tree

Manginangina - Puketi-Omahuta forest
Kauri tree

Comments

[Fred]

All those beautiful bodies on the beach
Well you'll soon be in the thick of it and not long until Christmas, but no christmas pudding for Sam, and then it will be our turn, but Lanzarotte has lost it appeal somehow! really try hard to enjoy yourself!