We spent some time in Dargaville trying to find info/programme for the rally. There didn’t seem to be much interest there but eventually found a programme. We easily found the POP, close to the Rally of NZ route which we had jacked up earlier in the week. It was at a lifestyle property at Tangiteroria. The owners were away on holiday but they arranged for us to plug in. Very convenient. The Special Stages that we had targeted were on the Girls High School Rd about 12kms from our POP. The rally cars used this road twice, once in the morning and again in the afternoon. We were at a great spectator point, on a high bank, with a good view of about ½ km of road. This included a transition from gravel to tarmac and a 90 degree turn onto a narrow one way bridge. The WRC cars are spectacular!!! The control and skill of the world’s best drivers is unbelievable. How they can navigate the bends, bridges and surfaces at the speed they are going is amazing. Unfortunately the WRC cars go thru first so the rest of the cars are a bit of a let down by comparison. Some of the afternoon

 stage was cancelled due to a fire. Fortunately we saw all of the WRC cars twice however. We ended up in the middle of the touring stage on the way back to our POP. Back into Dargaville and a shop up before heading south to the Pahi Peninsular where we are camped at a beach on the shores of the Kaipara Harbour. It’s a nice spot so we decided to stay two nights. The weather is still a mixture of sun and rain and a cool wind. The camp guy gave us some bait so after a walk around the baches we had a fish off the wharf. (Don 2, Val yet to break her duck) Our next stop was due to be further around the Kaipara Harbour at an ARC regional park but the wind and rain were horrendous. We drove on thru Helensville to Shelly Beach. We are in a camp sheltered from the SW winds facing the harbour. As the winds and squalls are still coming thru we will stay

another night here. We had a coffee at the little café at this camp and

managed to buy some bait. There is another huge wharf here so we spent a couple of hours fishing. Val caught a fish!!! I missed out. Our next night was back out on the west coast at Murawai. The on shore wind was very strong but the camp was nicely sheltered. A very brisk walk along the beach and cliffs.

Back into Auckland city negotiating spaghetti junction and out to the OSB/Sky base at Mt Wellington to say hello to the guys before heading south. We found a farm stay/POP near Pirongia. The old couple that owned it were great and took us a tour of the property including feed some thorough breed horses. We had a nice leisurely drive thru the King Country down the Awakino gorge and on to Inglewood where we spent an enjoyable evening with Rodney and Judith. The only problem was that the Hurricanes beat the Crusaders. We are going out for lunch with Rodney, Judith, Noel and Rose (met at Club Med in 1984) and I will publish this blog today. Tomorrow we cross back to the South Island and will drive home on Tuesday. Next blog from the USA all

going well!!!!

We headed north up SH 1 on a good road to Cape Reinga (100kms). The whole tourist area has been very well done with good signs and information. We walked down to the light house with views of the Three Kings Islands and the turbulent water where the Pacific meets the Tasman. A short drive back to a great DOC reserve in Tapotupotu Bay. We parked with great views of the bay and estuary. This was a beaut camping spot and we stayed there 3 nights. The first night 2 guys, who had towed a boat and a caravan up 90 Mile Beach from Kaitiai, gave the whole camp (about 4 couples, German and Austrian) some

beautiful snapper fillets. It was probably the best fish we have ever eaten!! We did some great walks including following the Cape Reinga Walkway back towards the Cape with stunning views of our bay and the lighthouse. A few campervans came and went. One morning 4 guys with 2 boats tried to launch from the beach at low tide. What a performance! We spent most of the morning watching them get stuck

and digging themselves out. All very entertaining. Last night it rained so we drove off our camp site before having breakfast. (a muddy patch by the gate!) We are now in a camp at Houhora Heads. On the way we called into Te Paki stream. This is where the buses etc leave 90 Mile Beach heading north. It is also where sand surfing is popular. Unfortunately it was raining so we had a quick climb up the sand dunes and no surfing. We have discovered that the Rally of NZ comes thru the Dargaville area on Saturday so have decided to re-arrange our schedule to see a special stage. We drove south thru Kaiatia (shopping) and on 

to Ahipara (where Ninety Mile Beach starts) for lunch. South again to Herekino Harbour where we spent the night on the Owhata Marae. When we arrived at the Marae we walked on to the area and eventually found a Maori guy in a shack who said it was fine to stay the night. The view where we parked was greatlooking straight down the harbour. The Maori bloke was called H Heki. (could it be Honi Heki??) The weather is fine most of the time but the odd few heavy showers come thru.

We drove south again thru isolated beautiful country to the Hokianga Harbour where we caught the ferry across to Rawene for lunch. We are now at Opononi in a camp with nice views of the harbour mouth.

South again with a stop for a short walk into Tane Mahuta, the largest Kauri tree in NZ. The drive thru the Waipoua Forest was spectacular. The road is now tar sealed and very nice. We have camped at Trounson Kauri Park. There was a beautiful walk thru the Kauri forest. The kauri trees are majestic! Went for a walk after dark to sight some kiwis but with no luck. Now in Dargaville to sort out the rally tomorrow, book a ferry and post this blog.

The weather really packed in and we had a wet first day at Paihia. The next day was clear in the morning so we headed off to Waitangi and spent most of the morning exploring the treaty grounds, meeting house and treaty house including an audio visual presentation of the signing.

For NZers this is all FREE. ($25 for foreigners) We went into Paihia and looked around (not very inspiring) and had lunch, deciding whether we would catch the ferry to Russell. The weather made up our minds as it started raining again. Back at the camp and after it cleared we walked to the top of the Haruru Falls. A couple of guys gave us a huge piece of king fish fillet. Great eating! As the weather was still not great the next day, we decided to bypass Russell and move on to Kerikeri where the Old Stone Shop, the Mission House and St James Church were well worth a visit.

Our next camp was at Matauri Bay Camp. What a fabulous beach and setting. We are right

 

on the beach again and we decided to stay 4 nights here as there is a deal ($100 for a week). There are about 10 large motorhomes and caravans parked up for the winter. The main activity seems to be fishing (from boats). We have spent the time walking the beaches (2), reading and watching the activity at the boat ramp. Off this beach (on the next island) the Rainbow Warrior and the HMNZS Canterbury have been sunk as diving sites. There is a great memorial to the Rainbow Warrior at the top of the headland which offers a 270 degree view of the coastline, islands and the site of the wreck. The weather has been warm and sunny but every so often a shower of rain comes thru.I went fishing with an old guy in his boat

and caught a small snapper (not a keeper) and a trevalli which we ate.

Vey enjoyable! We woke one morning to the tall ship, the “Spirit of New Zealand” moored in the bay.

Following a tourist route we stopped at Mahinepua Beach for a nice walk out to a headland and a picnic lunch.

On thru Mangonui (very cute) and Coopers Beach to end up at a POP at Taipa, run by an old couple, backing onto the river with a great view. We drove out onto the Karikari Peninsula, which forms Doubtless Bay, to a DOC camp at Maitai Bay. We spent 2 days walking the beaches including a great 3 hour walk along the shore, up a bushy gorge and out along a ridge back to the beach. The views from the cliff tops were spectacular. The weather has been cooler the last few days with a southerly. After a shop up at Kerikeri we headed north to a camp at the ramp leading onto Ninety Mile Beach. We rode the bikes 10kms up the beach on rock hard sand. A nice ride but a bit boring!. Tomorrow we will head up to Cape Reinga and will explore the area for about 5 days and we’ll probably have no internet or cellphone coverage. The weather has warmed up again but there is no one around to enjoy it. We find it surprising that there are very few campervans around.

A short drive thru Warkworth and out to the coast at Snells Beach. This is a great beach with many flash houses overlooking it. Most seem to be holiday houses. We are allowed to stay right on the water front.

Quite surprising really. We off-loaded the bikes and set out for a ride to Sand Spit where the ferry to Kawarau Island leaves from. Going up a hill just out of Snells Beach Val ran out of steam and I realized she

was pushing a flat tyre. We walked back 2kms to the garage to discover the nearest repair would be back

at Warkworth. We settled for a walk along the beach instead. We stopped off at Warkworth the next day and found a friendly bike repair man who fixed the problem. Warkworth is a pretty town set on a river. We followed the coast up the Twin Coast Discovery road passed Mangawhai Heads and Waipu Cove to our next stop at a DOC camp at Uretiti Beach. This is a huge camp behind the sand hills of the white sands of

Uretiti Beach. Val caught up on some washing which dried in a cool southerly wind. The next day we headed off on our bikes for a 27km return ride inland to the Waipu Caves along a undulating (Val would say

hilly) road. Most of the ride was thru farm land with the last bit thru native bush. The caves were great but unfortunately I forgot a torch so our exploring was a bit limited. Back at the camp, after a late lunch we set off along the beach to Ruakaka (about 10 kms return). We discovered that Uretiti Beach is nudist friendly. Not a pleasant sight!! After 2 nights at the DOC camp we are now in Whangarei. It has been another mixed weather day with sun and a couple of southerly squalls. The harbour basin is a nice area. We had a huge shop and are now in a NZMCA area at Manganese Point on the road to the Whangarei heads overlooking the harbour and Marsden Point. There are about 6 campers in. We stood in the sun looking at the view talking to some of them including a couple from Darfield. We followed SH1 north and then turned towards the coast for a 30 km drive along a windy road to Whananaki at the north end of the Tutakaka Coast. We are now in a DOC camp at Otamure. Our site overlooks the most magnificent beach and coastline. The area is a bit like the Able Tasman but with grey sand and much more rugged features. We are looking north thru many islands and headlands to Cape Brett. The weather is now beautiful and we will stay here all Queens Birthday weekend. We have had three great days here walking the beaches, biking to the next bay, and relaxing. The camp is quite empty but with enough people here to make it interesting. Fishing seems to be the main pastime here at this time of the year. I, unfortunately, have no bait!! Might not be a bad thing as everyone is very good at casting etc with great gear. No Warehouse rods here!! Diving is also popular. We have seen some people swimming but the water is pretty cold. The boats are launched from the beach which makes interesting viewing. A guy came back this morning with about 8 huge snapper all caught from a tiny kayak. We will spend another night here tonight. The clouds have come in but it is still warm. We drove out to Whananaki and set off on the coastal walk first crossing the LONGEST FOOT BRIDGE in the

southern hemisphere. 700m long across the Whananaki Estuary. The track followed the coast before heading inland to bypass some flash baches. We ended up on a promontory, with a spectacular 270 degrees view, where there was a memorial to the ‘Capitaine Bouganville’, a French freighter which caught on fire in 1975 (16 killed). After a picnic lunch we walked along the beaches (low tide) back to the bridge and the camper. On return to the camp we went back to our same spot overlooking the beach. Overnight the wind got up and it is now raining. We have driven north to Paihia and are now in a camp looking at the Haruru Falls. We have paid for power the first time this holiday and also have free internet. It has rained all day and we have just sat tight. The forecast is not great but hopefully we can look around Paihia, Waitangi, and Russell in the next few days.