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Published: November 8th 2009
While I realize that I have been a little slack on my blog lately, I have to say that the way I've been spending my time lately makes sitting in front of a computer seem a bit of a bore. But, given that it has been a while since my last blog I am kind of looking forward to sitting back and recounting all of the memories of the past couple of weeks...
The week after getting back from my sailing trip seemed rather short (recovering took a good full day of napping) and was spent mainly around the Auckland area. I visited with Lena (one of the girls that I had met in Hawaii) throughout the week, as she arrived into Auckland on Tuesday morning and stuck around for a few days before heading south. I arranged a long-term car rental (buying seemed too much of a hassle). And - my favourite news - I bought myself a surfboard and wetsuit... though I must admit, I haven't had a chance to try them out yet 😞
This past week has been much more exciting, as Brett (Fall River) arrived to meet and travel with me on Monday morning.
I was extremely excited to see him, and given that we now had a car available to us, I picked him up at the airport and we headed out to do what we do best - road trip! Our first stop was about two hours North-East of Auckland, in a little village called Leigh where we found a cute little cottage to stay in for a couple of nights. Brett was still adjusting to the time change so we kept this day pretty simple - a little trip down to Goat Island Marine Reserve to check out the fish from the rocks was all that was needed to keep us entertained. We saw many large snappers (the NZ equivalent of haddock) and were even able to spot a stingray making his way along the sand.
Tuesday we headed out of Leigh to explore the surrounding area - this exploration included a short hike at Ti Point Reserve, a walk through the town of Matakana, and a picnic at Tawharanui Beach. We had planned on visiting Ti Point Vineyard, but on seeing the steepness of the driveway and knowing the capabilities of our little Toyota wagon (which we have come
to fondly call 'Timbit'), we decided to skip this one for fear of spending the rest of our trip on the parking lot of the Vineyard (though, in hindsight, maybe not such a bad place to be stuck).
By the time Wednesday rolled around, it was time to leave our little village and continue north. We headed of to visit the 'House of Memories' in Waipu - a museum dedicated entirely to a group of Scottish settlers who sailed to New Zealand from - none other than... Nova Scotia! Needless to say, Brett and I were a pretty big deal in this little town, what with being real Nova Scotians and all. I could fill you in on the entire story, but I'm sure you would appreciate it more after doing the research yourself, so I certainly encourage anyone who is interested to 'google' it - it's quite an interesting story (Can you imagine, back in the day, just deciding to build a boat and sailing it halfway around the world to parts unknown? Most people would shudder at the thought of doing something like that even today, with all of our modern conveniences).
Continuing on our journey
north, we took a stop-off to see Whangarei Falls and enjoyed climbing the rocks to a good viewing spot
behind where the water was cascading over the edge of the cliffs. From here we headed out to our beachside DOC (Department of Conservation) Campsite in Whananaki. A walk on the beautiful beach and supper over our one-burner camp stove made for a satisfying end to a very interesting day.
The next morning we went for a small hike to a near-by beach before packing up our gear and making the long drive to the very northern tip of New Zealand. We did make a few stops along the way to make our journey a little less 'driven'. The most notable being Rainbow Falls - a beautiful waterfall that creates a rainbow in the water below when viewed from the correct angle. Our campsite this night was another DOC one, and it claims to be the most northern campsite in New Zealand: Taputaputa. It was absolutely beautiful, in a small valley where a river ran into the ocean.
From here we awoke early and headed up to Cape Reinga - the farthest North one can go and still be
on land in New Zealand. It is also the place where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea, and the opposing currents of the two bodies of water make for some magnificent waves. In addition to this, the views here were just incredible: blue sky, green landscape, white beaches, and sparkling waters. The feeling of being here along side of Brett was just amazing... quite unbelievable, really. And all of this was before 11 in the morning! So much more awaited us on this great day! We did a short hike along the cliffs of the area to get some more views before turning back south again.
During our journey south we made sure to turn off at Ti Paki Giant Sand Dunes for some 'sand surfing' which was pretty fun. Kind of like sledding - only warm, sunny, and with the everlasting presence of sand in our clothes and on our bodies afterward. The dunes themselves were pretty amazing - just pure white sand for kilometres and kilometres (with the blue of the sky above and the ocean in the background). Another stop this day was the famed '90 Mile Beach' (more accurately, 90 Kilometres) - the beach
The View from Cape Reinga
Brett gets the credit for this incredible photograph :)literally runs for 90 kilometers and is treated as a highway during low tide... cars ride up and down the sand lanes without a second thought. Unfortunately, our timing wasn't quite right and we ended up there close to high tide... probably a good thing, really, as our rental car really isn't supposed to be taken out on the beach and it would have been pretty tempting had the tide been low. A little more driving along some winding, gravel roads brought us to our campsite for the weekend in Trounson Kauri Park Reserve: our first campsite with hot showers (it's amazing what we take for granted when living at home). We fell asleep that night listening to the sounds of birds chirping, grass rustling, and, oh yes, cows in heat. How nice.
Saturday was our day to go into Waipoua Forest Reserve and check out the giant Kauri trees that are so well known in New Zealand. We started out with a hike up to a scenic lookout over the forest and followed that up with a few walking trails to see the different and magnificent Kauri trees. It is hard to believe how perfectly straight they grow
and how much they tower over the other trees in the forest. After that, we headed back to Trounson for another night of mating cows.
Sunday was time to head back to Auckland, but not without a stop first at the famous Kauri Museum in Matakohe. And there is no wonder it is considered famous... it was a very well-done museum, complete with wax figurines and moving displays to demonstrate how these natural giants were logged throughout the centuries. Brett and I were both quite impressed with how interesting this museum managed to make the, possibly mundane, logging industry seem. Continuing toward Auckland we stopped in quaint Warkworth for lunch and found a lovely little used book store where we both stocked up on reading material - I even found a book set in Nova Scotia (The Birth House).
We're now back in Auckland to reorganize ourselves before heading off to the East Coast for a little bit. And though I know that this has been a lengthy entry, I do feel that it is necessary to include one more thing that was recurring throughout this weeks adventure. Driving. So, we both have the driving on the opposite
side of the road thing down, but this place is crazy for driving. The roads are all twisty and turny, which wouldn't be so bad if they were paved. But they aren't. I would say that during our week travelling, we were probably on gravel roads 70%!o(MISSING)f the time. And the speed limit on these roads?
100 km/hr !!! We could not believe it... here we are, struggling to keep on these roads going 40 and then we would see a speed limit sign for 100! And not too long after, sure enough, a Kiwi would come flying by us (or toward us) at 100 - we really have no idea how they manage to keep their cars on the road... the laws of physics must be a little different here in the Southern Hemisphere (maybe the same way that the toilets flush differently).
Alright, I hope all is well at home - I've heard that the first snow has fallen and I am sad that I wasn't there to experience it (though I can't say that I'm actually complaining). Keep the comments and emails coming - I love hearing from everybody.
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mandy
non-member comment
looking good Leigh-Ann. Quite funny that you went to a place named Leigh... maybe you should aim to go to a place named Ann by the end of the adventure! Keep the pictures coming, they make me miss you a little less. 000X000