Advertisement
Published: October 19th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Haruru Falls
Near Paihia and the Waitangi Treaty Grounds Ross:
After picking up the van on 1st October, we decided to take it for a three-day, 1200km test drive north of Auckland, an area of the North Island surprisingly known as Northland. After a quick stop at a mall in Milford to replace the aforementioned stolen sunglasses and a second stop in Whangarei for groceries (from Woolworths!), we arrived in Paihia in the Bay of Islands about 5 hours later. After cruising around the town, neighbouring bays, past Haruru falls, the local golf course and Waitangi Treaty Grounds in search of an illegal camping spot we ended up coughing up $8 to park in the local pay & display for 24 hours, along with another five or six vans. A tasty beef madras cooked over the van's stove helped keep us warm during the night...
The next day we were up early to board a 50ft catamaran for a sail around the beautiful Bay of Islands with another 10 or so people. Some of the trips around the bay are aboard high-speed jet boats or motor-cruisers but we felt that me might have more success seeing marinelife under sail. Sure enough, within a matter of minutes we were
Beef curry
Christening the stove in the van surrounded by a large school of bottlenose dolphins. Unfortunately due to the presence of calves we were unable to swim with the dolphins however they put on a good display of aerial acrobatics and were constantly surfing our bow wave.
After the dolphin encounter we set sail for a small sheltered bay, for a BBQ lunch and a snorkel. Being early spring the water is still a bit on the chilly side but no problem with a shorty wetsuit on. I saw a few fish, starfish and urchins but no stingrays. Pol's waterproof camera performed faultlessly yet again!
Once the hotdogs had been polished off, we sailed out further to make the most of the developing winds before finally heading back to harbour. We had a great days sailing on board Carino with Vanessa, our skipper and Scott, her English crewmate.
After returning to land we hopped back in the van for another mammoth drive further North, towards Cape Reinga, via the Matauri Bay Scenic Route. Matauri Bay is very picturesque with about 17 small islands located just off the shore. The original Rainbow Warrior was eventually sunk here as a diving site after it's sabotage by
the French secret service whilst moored in Auckland. There's a memorial on the top of the headland to the Greenpeace activist killed in the attack. We cruised through Mangonui, Cable Bay and Coopers Beach before hanging a right for the northern cape. By now it was getting dusk and we were still planning on heading to Cape Reinga to camp. However, not having been responsible for a motor vehicle for over 3 months, it suddenly dawned on us that the things need fuel to go along, about the same time that the little orange 'empty' light started to flicker on. We'd motored passed a closed petrol station some miles back but were also aware of one in Waitiki Landing some distance further north. With the fuel warning light growing brighter by the mile Pol suggested knocking on someone's door to gain some local knowledge of the fuel situation so we swung into a driveway. The father-of-ten Maori guy knew of a station further north but was adamant that they hadn't had fuel for years?! So, with his kids running riot in the background, we bid him farewell and gingerly crept back to the previous forecourt, rolling downhill wherever possible. With
All aboard!
Aboard 'Carino', our 50ft catamaran for the day in the Bay of Islands about a kilometres worth of fuel in the tank and a sigh of relief we camped up at the back of the forecourt for the night and waited for them to open in the morning.
The next morning after refuelling (petrol, LPG and water!) we trekked up to the Cape, which is very much like a more isolated version of Lizard Point with a lonely lighthouse occupying the cliff top at the northenmost point. The last 20km of road is unsealed (read 'gravel') although work is underway to tarmac it. Cape Reinga is where the Tasman Sea meets the South Pacific.
After a short stop to take in the views, and with the idea of getting back to Auckland that night we high-tailed it south, stopping briefly at the large Te Paki sand dunes, Ninety Mile Beach (which incidentally I don't think is anywhere near 90 miles long?) and the Kauri tree stump museum/gallery in Awanui. Some minor navigational hiccups by myself meant a bit of back-tracking for Driver Pol, although I still stand by the fact that the scenery was especially stunning! We'll have to leave the Rawene ferry until next time. After a good 6 hours
driving we were happy to finally roll up on Becky and Tom's driveway in Takapuna and crack open a beer...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.239s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 17; qc: 68; dbt: 0.1642s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb