The Far North

From Auckland, we drove north to explore the "far north" area of the island. A lot of driving, perhaps, for only a few stops. Nevertheless, we spent the afternoon of Wednesday, November 5, at Waipoua Forest, along the northwest coast. After a picnic lunch at the visitor center, we knew where to go in the forest to see the awesome Kauri trees. Let me say here that this is one of the times I regret how scale can be lost in a photograph. While one of us is standing nearby as a frame of reference, it doesn't convey the enormity and presence of the trees.

First we walked to the Four Sisters, four trees that have fused together at the base. Alan is on the walkway to the right.

Then, along the way to Te Matua Ngahere (the largest Kauri in diameter at 16 meters), we saw other large Kauri. I thought we were seeing trees similar to what Te Matua would be. But when we turned the corner to see him -- "The Father of the Forest"-- the sun was slanting down and it was really stunning.

We drove a little farther in the park to see Tane Mahuta, the tallest Kauri. Signs said this tree began life about 2000 years ago.

Another chunk of driving brought us to the very north end of the island, and sometimes it felt like the end of the earth! Cape Reinga sees the meeting of the Pacific and Tasman Oceans. We found our camp site at Tapotupotu Bay, and enjoyed walking by the ocean at dusk.

In the morning, we drove to the Cape proper, and followed the path to the lighthouse. Signs along the way explained the significance of the area for the Maori tribes here.

We began retracing our drive to the south, this time stopping to see some sights along the way. We visited Te Paki, the Giant Sand Dunes. As the dunes start to appear in the distance, it is a startling change beside the pastoral atmosphere.

We drove to 90 Mile Beach (more like 90 km) just to have a look.This is a "famous" landmark, maybe since 4-wheel vehicles can drive the length of it at low tide, but for us it looked like any beach. It was a very windy day, so we couldn't see very far.

Still driving south, we took the route on the east side towards the Bay of Islands. We began to see signs for vineyards, so we stopped for a tasting at Cottle Hill Winery. Here we met the owners and wine makers, a couple from California who had sailed the world for 4 years, then moved to New Zealand in 1992. "Got off the plane and bought a chainsaw," they said, since they cleared their land to plant the grapes.

The attraction of the Bay of Islands, aside from its beautiful bay, is adventure sports or tours with high prices attached. We visited Paihia, which is really a very small town. We walked around to see the shops, a bay lookout, and a historical church called St. Paul's. (Not that historical on its own, being built in 1925, but it stands on the site of the first church in New Zealand.)

We got to Whangarei in the evening, settling in to be ready to explore in the morning. On Friday, Novemebr 7, we visited the Library Arts Center, reputedly displaying local arts and crafts. We did find a gallery of harbor photographs, but the bulk of the building was buzzing with the set-up of a cake decorators' expo. We visited the Whangarei Art Museum, then the National Clock Museum. The Clock Museum, or Clapham's Clocks, was probably more interesting than it sounds. I enjoyed our guide, a lady from Germany, who was very enthusiastic about the museum. 

We headed out to walk at Abbey Caves-- "the budget traveller's answer to Waitomo Caves", famous for its glowworms. We quickly found out that there is a reason people pay for Waitomo. It only took climbing down into one cave, with about a foot deep of running water, seeing an eel in the darkness, to turn right back around. The walk around the caves was nice, though.

We walked about the harbor, seeing various statues along the way, before visiting Brauhaus Fings, a brew pub. I think we hit biker night, so we didn't stay longer than a pint.