Waitiki Landing to Pahia
After the tramp we were very tired and just drove straight back to Pahia and the Mousetrap hostel to take in some creature comforts and catch up on email and other necessities (ie. laundry and bathing!)
We even decided to treat ourselves to a restaurant for dinner which ended up being harder than we expected. Most of the restaurants had already closed by 8:30pm - even though it was Saturday. So we finally found a pizza place with decent prices that was open, but as we were trying to get in the door a large party came out and a women fainted/had a seizure and in all the confusion we ducked into a second door which seemed to lead into the same restaurant. But by the time we had been seated and given our menus we realized it was a more expensive seafood "sister" restaurant to the one we had meant to go into. Alas, at this point we just decided to go with it and had a nice seafood dinner. C'est la vie.
Sun 08Jun08
Pahia
We stayed for a second night at the hostel and so on this particular day we could be found lazying around, catching up on the blog, taking a stroll on the beach to the grocery store and watching some horrible NZ tv (we only had wifi reception in the tv lounge...)
We also met a really nice women from Dunedin, Jane, who we plan to look up when we get to that part of the country.
Also, I have to mention that "creepy guy" and his girlfriend were still ensconced at the hostel. sigh... not sure if I mentioned him the first time around, but let's just say that not everyone we meet at the hostels is nice and friendly. (Rollin and Dianna - I had the "creepy girl" mst3k song stuck in my head for days after meeting this weirdo.) Otherwise, the Mousetrap is an ideal hostel.
Oh - and I almost forgot, while we walked around town we spotted "Harry" the van - one of the vans we took for a test drive in Auckland. The camper van set is small here!
Mon 09Jun08
Pahia to Puketi Forest
Today we rousted ourselves out of the Mousetrap and headed inland for the Puketi Forest Park. The forest is one of the largest tracts of native forest in the Northland and has a nice cosy campground. We walked the one hour nature trail in the late afternoon which was quite nice because they had examples of all the main flora of the kauri forest labelled. We tried to memorize as many as we could, but don't quiz me!
This is true rain forest with hundreds of trees, bushes, grasses, mosses, lichen, fungi and even slime moulds. Everything is growing on top of everything else and all is green.
That night we had the entire campground to ourselves (very nice) and even almost had a campfire. The logs were wet and so just smouldered, but it was still fun to sit in front of while we ate dinner and listened to the animals crashing around in the bush. We're pretty sure we heard kiwis here - but we haven't seen one yet.
Tues 10Jun08
Puketi Forest to Rawene
This morning we went on a second short hike north of the campground to a small grove of old kauris called the Manginangina Kauri Walk - it was recommended by one of the park employees and was well worth it. Then we hiked the two-hour Waihoanga Gorge Kauri Walk on the southern end of the park to another kauri grove. What esle can I say - it was absolutely beautiful!
After this we drove toward Hokianga Harbour and the small bayside village of Rawene where we decided to spend the night in a holiday park. We didn't need the showers yet, but there weren't any campgrounds nearby.
The holiday park was nice and we thought we had the place to ourselves as we watched the sunset over the bay, but alas moments later the park was inundated with 3 huge motor homes and two more camper vans...
But it worked out fine and we enjoyed talking to one British couple, Stuart and Kayle, who had lived all over the world (most recently Vanuatu) working mainly as scuba diving instructors and had just gotten office jobs in the New Plymouth region of NZ. Very interesting folks.
For dinner we resisted the very tasty looking fish and chips takeaway in town and instead cooked up a nice kidney bean and lentil curry. Yes, more beans... it's surprising anyone will talk to us!
Wed 11Jun08
Rawene to Baylys Beach via Waipoua Forest
This morning we woke up and the little peninsula of Rawene was completely lost in thick fog - the first thick marine fog we've encountered here. After breakfast we bought some internet access at the local green grocers in the center of town - yes, fresh vege and internet :) I love shops that sell incongruous wares/services!
Then we walked around town to see some of the historic buildings and watched the car ferry appear out of the mist.
Back in the van we drove around the coast to Opononi and Omapere near the mouth of Hokianga harbour, had lunch at a picnic table and then got snared by the information booth/historical museum. We'd planned to only go in for a minute, but they insisted that we watch a 10min film from the 50's about Opo the dolphin who lived in the Harbour and was extremely friendly with humans - playing with swimmers and kids, following boats, etc. She was quite the sensation and tourists from all over crowded the beaches to see her, but sadly she died after only a couple years of this - most likely hit by a propeller. Anyways, the film was classic MST3k short material. We especially giggled at the scene when they take a ball away from a little girl and throw it to the dolphin. She looks extremely unhappy about this and watches as Opo takes her treasured toy way out in the water. Eventually it is returned to the poor girl who probably never let it out of her sight again!
After this we tried to leave gracefully but an older man who was working at the museum caught us in conversation and talked our legs off for at least an hour! Haha, he was very nice though and had lived in Vancouver and travelled extensively in the US so he told us lots of tales.
Free at last we drove to a lookout point at the mouth of the harbour where the old signal station used to be located. The harbour used to be a very busy commercial port and the signal master would raise signal flags to control boat traffic in and out of the harbour which was complicated by a large sand bar. Nothing remains of the station house now, but it is a lovely view.
Next we drove south to Waipoua Forest to see some more kauri trees and forest, including the two largest kauri still alive (although mere babes compared to the great kauri that were logged.) Tane Mahuta is the largest living kauri (not sure if this is by height or volume) and is quite magnificent...
but it's the second largest, Te Matua Ngahere that is the most amazing. It has an immense girth and a huge crown that is like a little city inside the forest bustling with birds and (presumably) insects. The pictures don't do it justice.
The forests are beautiful and full of lots of other giant kauri trees that deserve to be named as well! And this is where we first noticed the big wood pigeons whose wings make a whistling/whooshing noise as they fly laboriously from one treetop to the next. These wood pigeons are very important as they are the only native bird left that is big enough to swallow and spread the kauri seeds.
Afterwards, we were almost out of daylight and so drove south to Dargaville for groceries (resisting an amazing array of takeaway shops) and back to Baylys Beach for a nice holiday park stay.
Thurs 12Jun08
Baylys Beach to Takapuna
This morning we walked on Baylys beach for awhile - a huge stretch of flat beach that people drive on like 90 mile beach to the north. Very beautiful.
Having finally decided to bite the bullet and go to the Great Barrier Island, we called Sealink and made the reservations and then headed towards Auckland since we needed to be at the ferry dock at 6am the next morning.
and eventually arrived at our chosen spot for the night - Takapuna Holiday Park in Auckland. Worn out from driving and knowing that we'd be roughing it for 10 days on the island, we splurged and ate dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Devonport. yum...
photoset
3 comments:
I had no idea that fig trees could be so large.
I realize it's probably not pc to say so, but it looks like a great spot for a big treehouse.
Well, not to mention the Kauri. That would be more of a treevillage.
That's so sad about Opo the dolphin - I looked her up and read this about her early death:
"She may have followed a boat in which people were fishing the mullet shoals with gelignite, and been caught in the blast. Whoever was responsible wedged the dead dolphin into rocks at Kouto to disguise the cause of her death, a theory claims.
And another holds that Opo's taste for fish was her undoing. Some fishers reputably didn't like a dolphin scaring away or feeding too readily from the local fish stock. Yet another theory has it that Opo could have died from injuries suffered when some heavy-weights tried to ride her the day before. "
http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3676189
Post a Comment