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Published: March 20th 2008
So Dee and I said our goodbye’s to Sye, Marta, & Melbourne and made our way to Auckland. New Zealand has always interested me, especially from an environmental point of view. They appeared to be pretty good on that front, and I’d always heard that the scenery was jaw dropping. We had made the plan to hire a campervan and do a Permaculture Trail (this may not have been the most environmental choice I know, but unfortunately it was the most sensible option due to money and time constraints (that old chestnut eh? Yes yes.. I’m going to carbon hell, with the rest of yA ;c). We decided to go North first, then see how far South we could get.
We headed for The Bay of Islands first (through one tree point, Paihia, KeriKeri, Cooper’s Beach, and onto Ahipara ). We ended up chatting to this really sweet old Maori couple whilst parked up at Cooper’s beach. They warned us about gypsy pirate types further up north. They told us to be careful with our stuff, as tourists were being robbed up there. We took their advice on board, as well as their kind offering of beer and went on our way.
Some of you may have heard of the band Salmonella Dub (if not, go check em out ;c). A guy at the service station had told us that they were parked up at a place called Rainbow valley, so we went in search of them. Unfortunately we couldn’t find them, so opted to camp up next to a picturesque beach instead. Then, whilst Dee was cooking up the soup, a young gypsy bogen looking guy came galloping up the beach on a beautiful white horse. I thought I was hallucinating to start with, so decided to get out of the van and go and say hello just to check. The horse’s nostrils were puffing in and out, and it was dripping in sweat. It had on the most amazing looking saddles I’ve ever seen, proper Wild West looking, but with Maori patterns, a beautiful work of art. I asked what he was doing galloping around on the beach in the dark, and he replied that ‘they were training the horses for the rodeo’. His mate then appeared on an equally fine looking beauty. I was so tempted to ask if I could have a quick gallop, but the horses looked a tad knackered, and I prefer ‘em frisky! Plus, it’s probably not the best idea to go galloping off into the dark with someone else’s nutty looking horse (as much as I would have enjoyed the rush.
We spent the next hour or so chatting and hanging out with them whilst they waited for another two horses to turn up, and their other mate to pick them all up with the horse box. It all reminded me how much I love horses. They’re such majestic magical creatures, so strong yet sensitive.
The next day we drove up to the highest point of New Zealand along 90-mile beach to Cape Reinga where we went for a hike and did some sand surfing! It’s a crazy place. The sand dunes are huge! It’s like being in the middle of a desert at times. The size of the beach makes you feel like you’re the only person on the planet, a great place to scream. True wilderness.
We then made our way back down through Kaitaia, Ahipara, and Kohukohu just in time to get ferry over to Rawene. The scenery whilst driving has been overwhelming. I’m sure Dee’s is incredibly bored of me going ‘wooOOooow’. Seriously though, this country has the most incredible scenery I’ve ever seen. Some words that spring to mind right now are: wild, undulating, lush, vast, stunning, pure, raw, abundant, untouched, and serene. And we haven’t even been to the South Island yet.
I definitely feel like we are moving to quickly though. I’d much rather be cycling across this land, but unfortunately my time is limited due to precious commitments back home ;c)
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Tony
non-member comment
Hey
It's been fun reading your blog.