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Published: November 13th 2008
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Wednesday 29th October
We had breakfast delivered and at 9.00 am we were picked up by Robin Collins of Harrisons for our trip to Cape Reinga. At Awanui, (Big River) once an ancient sea bed we had a quick look at the huge kauri logs and stumps which have been extracted from local swamps and are thousands of years old. All around this area was flat, peat soil country of swamp kauri trees and logs. The climate is good for the pine trees. They grow quickly to reach the canopy and prune themselves as they expand. Once this area was all underwater and now sand dunes. Avocados, sweet corn, watermelons and rockmelons are grown here. Also, lots of dairy farms, wild pigs and horses, ducks and wild turkeys. At Houhora Heads (Wagener Park) we had a quick stop and saw Mt. Camel, (named by Captain Cook), a tall volcanic out crop and forms the headland at the entrance. We saw the old Houhora Tavern and the hitching rails of olden days and old hotel. More fruit plantations. At Rarawa Beach we stopped and walked on beautiful silicone sand. So very fine. Here the sand dunes are pure white. At Te Kao
we past the lst Maori church. We toured on a bumpy gravel road to Te Paki Stream where we drove along the stream and then stopped for a very hard climb up the golden sanddune for a toboggan ride. It was an exhilarating ride down. On to a lovely Tapotupotu Bay (Sandy Bay) where we had our lunch. It was then onto a rough gravel road for 7 kms to Cape Reinga but we hadn’t gone very far before we had a half hour wait for three big trucks/trailers to unload huge rocks. There is a lot of construction work being done to bitumanise the road and they are doing it from the top to the bottom. We finally got Cape Reinga (Te Rerenga Wairua). This is New Zealand’s most northern point and the place where Maori mythology says the spirits of the departed leap into the afterlife. What an amazing view of beautiful beaches, sand dunes, the greenest of green country side and the dramatic meeting place of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean. We joined our coach once more and travelled over the same route to Te Kao where we stopped for the biggest and cheapest icecream before
we had a short stop on the beach at Hukatere which is part of the 90 mile beach. Then it was a drive on the hard sand of the beach - amazing - before we turned off at the Waipapakauri Ramp to join the bitumen for our next stop at the Ancient Kauri Museum at Awanui. While we wandered in the museum, Robin washed the coach. We learnt more about the ancient kauri which is derived from a number of buried prehistoric forests that grew at the dawm of time, some more than 50,000 years ago.
Buried under peat swamps by an unexplained act of nature before the onset of the last Ice Age, the trees were left lying just beneath the surface of the ground. This underground resting place, sealed from the air, became a perfectly balanced cocoon that preserved the timber in perfect condition. It is known to be the oldest workable timber in the world. Extraction of the logs is time-consuming and expensive. This is believed by the cost of some of the beautiful pieces of furniture on display. Ancient Kauri is unique, at 45,000 years old. We also walked up to the first floor on the
world famous 45,000 year old staircase. Another amazing exhibition of beautiful crafts. We arrived back at our motel at 5.00 and agreed it was a wonderful day ’s activity. At 5.30 in misty rain we started our drive via Awanui to Doubtless Bay - 30kms NE of Kaitai. Hugged the bay through Taipa, Coopers Beach and Cable Bay before we reached the tranquil inner harbour of Mangonui famous as a big game fishing centre. We went to the Mangonui Fish Shop which is renowned for the “best battered fish and fried spuds in the land”. At 6.30 we took off again and left the coast and drove through more pine plantations until we reached the town of Haruru Falls and arrived at Paihia, gateway to the beautiful Bay of Islands at 7.30 (8455). After booking into the Alo Moana Motel on the esplanade, Jeenah and Chris went for a short walk and then we went to bed after a very full day.
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