South Head, Kaipara Harbour, 19 August

We set off 8.15 and it takes nearly 2 hours to get to Lake Otoroa, though that doesinclude the obligatory coffee & cake stop at Helensville. This is the largest lake on South Head and has recently been taken over by DOC (Dept. of Conservation). It’s immediately obvious that it’s a recent acquisition as there’s little info and the footpath seems to disappear almost before it’s started. So we’re following a tangled path over and under fallen tree trunks and struggling to find a way over treacherous terrain around the perimeter of the lake which is more or less visible through the kanuka trunks.



Lake Otoroa, through the kanuka trees
 

These arum lilies are growing all around Auckland, they're a native of South Africa

The internet info had mentioned gullies full of lilies and sure enough we found them in huge clumps, flower heads full of bees. They’re arum lilies, a creamy white glowing in the sunshine. However we decide to retreat, when the path becomes more trouble than it’s worth, and move on to the next destination: Mosquito Bay. We’d seen this bay from a boat trip on Kaipara Harbour that we did back in the Summer, and thought it would be worth a visit. However we hadn’t taken account of the tides and walked down a very steep track only to find it was high tide and we couldn’t really explore at all. We meet another English couple also out exploring for the w/e. No mosquitoes I’m happy to report. Kaipara Harbour is the largest natural harbour in North Island and at the beginning of the twentieth century would have been full of kauri logs, cut down from the forests and floated down rivers into the harbour ready for export.

Mosquito Bay and Kaipara Harbour with the tide in. Not much exploring to be done

 

A long walk back up the hill and we move onto the Waionui Lagoon, driving through a section of MOD land. It’s a long drive through pine forest and we’re right at the top of South Head. The lagoon is really an inlet with a long spit of sand on its far side, and as the tide’s going we can stroll along the water’s edge towards the harbour itself. Pine forest descends into dune then mangrove swamp but we manage to get quite a long way round until we come across a river. So the clump of pines we’d been aiming for turns out to be on an island and the river separating us is deep and fast moving so there’s no way we’re getting over there.


This is the clump of pines we're heading for which turns out to be an island

Here we find a man with his daughter cooking sausages for lunch. No other people for miles around, but they’re having a lovely time. He used to live round here as a boy. We continue our walk and head for a line of trees reckoning there’s probably a path back alongside it. Starts off OK but is getting a bit swampy, and before we know it we’re pretty much stuck in the middle of an enormous mangrove swamp. No path, just reeds underfoot between the mangrove bushes which are more or less water-logged.



Finally we get out of the swamp and back to the shore of the lagoon

Mike’s wearing shorts and getting scratched legs, and I’m worried about getting covered in mud, but the boots stay on and hold out and we eventually make it back to the water’s edge. There’s a lonely woman wandering in search of her lost dog, but we’ve not seen it in our travels: it’s probably stuck in the mangroves like we were. Finally back to the car and on our way home.

Raglan w/e, 11-12 August

We decide on the spur of the moment to do a trip to Raglan again. The weather’s not looking great but it would be good to get away, so we book a 1 night stay in the Bunkhouse through Book-a-bach. It’s a self-contained unit at the back of a rented house, within easy walking distance of the town, and only $100 a night. It’s rather a beautiful morning as we drive south on Highway 1 early on Saturday. We stop at the i-site by Huntly for coffee and bump into Peta and Jem who are off to Cambridge for the w/e. Small world. The Waikato River, just outside the cafe window, is huge, swollen, and fast moving, because of all the rain.

Rainbow over the Bridal  Veil Falls

 We don’t plan to get to Raglan till evening, but our first choice for walking is closed because it's the lambing season, so we begin with a visit to Bridal Veil Falls. A short walk through bush and down masses of steps to the foot of the 55 m. falls. The air is wet with spray and there’s a rainbow near the base of the falls, which should, in my opinion, be called Running Tap Falls rather than a Bridal Veil.

Skirting the river which flows out onto Ruapuke Beach

From here we head for Ruapuke, a lonely black sand beach down a winding gravel road through farmland. Shoes off and we walk down beside a stream to the beach and wander along till we find a tree trunk for our lunch spot. The sea’s wild down here with huge plumes of spray being blown off the tops of the waves. After lunch we walk to the northern end of the beach crossing streams as we go. Mike tends towards the edge of the water while I meander along the high tide mark, beach-combing. At the top end of the beach we see people surfing on huge waves dodging the rocks which are scattered about.



Black sand sticks to wet feet

 

Back in the car it’s beginning to rain as we approach Raglan, but we find our way to the Bunkhouse and settle in. Fairly good facilities here though we plan to eat out tonight at the Orca Restaurant which we’ve been to before. The food didn’t disappoint and we return to the Bunkhouse feeling very full indeed, to watch a bit of the Olympics before bed. Having a working TV is always an added bonus to our w/e's away.

It’s still drizzling a little in the morning when we go out to the Blacksand Cafe for breakfast, then back to pack up the car. We take a look at the local Raglan market which like so many markets over here is very good, selling lovely kauri chopping boards which we can never resist. How we're going to get them back to Oxford we haven't worked out yet. There are also knitted goods, jewellery, jams, chutneys, clothes, local wine and olive oil, and of course loads of different food.

We take a short walk in the small Wainui Reserve and manage to get lost. By the time we’ve found our way out the rain has stopped so we go on down to Ocean Beach. It’s yet another black sand beach backed by dunes; the tide’s out and the beach seems to go on forever. We walk almost to the Surf Club at the end then turn back again. The sun’s just breaking through the clouds causing a mist to rise from the wet sand which meets the low cloud in places creating a beautiful silver haze.
 

Silver haze over Ocean Beach, Raglan

 We’re feeling pretty warm by now as we pop back to Raglan Market for a veggie curry lunch then set off to the Waingaroa Hot Springs which are situated on a back road to Auckland. It’s a lovely drive through green hills and valleys to the Springs and the route is dotted with mimosa trees, now in full bloom creating bright yellow splashes along the way. The hot Springs are good and relaxing, shame about the cold showers, which I couldn’t face, so I end up smelling of sulphur all the way home.

Port Waikato and Limestone Downs

5 August
We drive south and west to Port Waikato for a second visit. Great cafe for coffee then we walk north up the great long beach towards the Waikato estuary at its top end. It’s a greyish day, with rain threatening, but certainly not bad enough to put us off. Before reaching the top of the beach we cut across to the edge of the Waikato River, finding our way through the black sand dunes. The river is very full and extremely wide at this point. There are piles of drift wood and other debris washed up at its edge, including massive tree trunks and chunks of pumice stone.



Looking back to the start of the walk, blue sky in this direction

Wind-blown black sand dunes

We’re now following the edge of the river towards the sea. We find a green island of plant life floating on the surface of the river beside us, which must have broken off from the shore at some point. Only one fisherman on the riverside, here more for the peace and quiet than the fishing he tells us. Weather’s building to the north, with huge black clouds bubbling up over Auckland, though so far no drops have fallen.

Amidst the debris at the edge of the Waikato River. Mike's holding up a large piece of pumice which floats downriver



Walking back along the beach, with storm clouds gathering behind us

 

Eventually we reach the point where the river meets the sea and we stop for lunch nestling against an ancient tree trunk, sheltering from the wind, watching a large flock of terns chattering to each other not far off. Then we continue our way back along the beach to the car park with black clouds billowing behind us. Back at the cafe for tea then a dash for the car as the drops are beginning to fall.



Limestone valley with 'Weathertops' rising above it

It’s not that late so we decide to explore the country further south, which is limestone and apparently used as the location for Weathertops in the Lord of the Rings films. The roads are tiny and twisting, deteriorating to gravel the further we go. It really is very impressive though we can’t see any footpaths signs. In the UK it would probably be National Trust managed and criss-crossed with footpaths but here it’s farm owned and fenced off so we can’t go off exploring at all. We drive through Limestone Downs which is marked on the map as a village but turns out to be a large farm.

We end up unexpectedly at the Nikau Caves and stop for tea. It’s owned and run by a friendly chatty couple, has a great cafe and accommodation. We’ve had our walk today and I don’t fancy the caves which involve crawling on hands and knees in places and are wet underfoot, but I’m sure we’ll be back sometime.

Piha Beach

28 July
We’ve walked a string of west coast, black sand beaches from Whatipu in the south to Muriwai in the north  but for some reason we’ve not been down to Piha, so today’s the day. We’ve switched our walking day to Saturday this w/e as the weather looks foul tomorrow, but today it’s a beautiful warm sunny Winter’s day as we drive north west over to Piha.

Stopping to look down over Piha Beach, with Lion Rock standing proud in the middle

Kitikiti Falls

We begin by doing a short walk along a stream, up to the Kitikiti waterfall, a pretty walk through bush which involves crossing a number of streams on stepping stones (a pet hate of mine as I’m not fond of slippery rocks). Back at the car park a lot more cars have arrived and we meet a man who tells us a documentary is being filmed here about the fairy myths of New Zealand. Shame we missed them: lots of children dressed up as fairies with a smoke machine for atmosphere.

The lagoon with Lion Rock behind. The zombie ducks begin to approach

We drive on down to park by a duck covered lagoon in front of Lion Rock and start booting up. Very gradually ducks begin making their way towards us from all directions, they’re obviously used to being fed. They make slow deliberate progress looking for all the world like duck zombies homing in on their pray. And they don’t stop coming, so eventually we have ducks all around us pecking at our boots and ankles.

Zombie Ducks pecking my boots

Leaving the zombie ducks we wander on down to the beach to climb Lion Rock which stands majestically in the middle of the beach close to the shore so it must be accessible at high tide too. Great views though it’s no longer possible to climb right to the top.

The river runs from the lagoon to the sea on the left of Lion Rock

View looking north along Piha Beach from (nearly) the top of Lion Rock. Our planned walk goes up onto the hills and out to the headland in the far distance

We’ve planned a circular walk which should take us from Beach Road up into the bush, onto the headland, along a ridge, and then down to return along the beach. It’s a combination of 3 or 4 named tracks and is quite well sign posted. Lovely cool bush along a stream to start with then we’re climbing quite steeply upwards and I’m finding it quite hard going. It’s muddy underfoot in places but eventually we get out onto a good path at the top from which there are views down to Piha. Then we’re walking steeply down an access road which leads to a couple of isolated houses below us, and we find a bench for lunch before continuing out onto the furthest point which looks down to Whites Bay one side and Piha on the other. We spend a while watching surfers below us being towed out by a jet boat to catch the waves back inshore. Saves them a lot of hard work I guess.

View from the headland down onto Whites Bay where the surfers were getting a lift on a jet boat

Hard to believe it's mid-Winter

Down the path to the beach and we walk back towards Lion Rock, watching the surfers. Lots of people on the beach now, almost like Summer. Back at the car the zombie ducks are attacking a couple of German girls.

Prologue to A&A's Big Adventure

6 July
At long last the house is sold, contents packed, loose ends tied, and Anne & Andy have finally moved to New Zealand. I pick them up at the airport early on a cold foggy morning, but by coffee time we’re sat outside the cafe over the Domain in brilliant sunshine wearing T-shirts. So glad the weather’s good for them though it must be weird to come from an English Summer (albeit the worst in living memory) to a gloriously warm Auckland Winter. We meet Mike for a sushi lunch at Mt. Fuji and are warmly welcomed as ever by the owners. This evening we eat out at De Grand and enjoy the lovely Thai food while A&A struggle with jet lag. Andy nearly falls asleep in his dinner and Anne becomes hopelessly hysterical.

Just rounding the corner before Dacre Cottage, where estuary meets sea

7 July

Glorious weather again so decide to go north walking by the Okura Estuary around to Dacre Cottage. We set off crossing the river and entering deep bush climbing quite a bit. The bush is cool and dark on this bright sunny day. Over the ridge we descend down to sea level and come out onto a beach at the side of the estuary. It’s low tide so we continue walking around the beach over rather slippery rocks, and rounding a headland we come to a stretch of clean white sand with Dacre Cottage at the far end. It’s a lovely warm spot for lunch, and we can look across the water at Shakespeare Park, Tiritiri Matangi, and the hills of the Coromandel Peninsular in the far distance. We walk back the same way to avoid a steep climb through the bush.

That evening we have Peta and Jem round for dinner and Andy gets our fire going for the first time this Winter.

Lunch in the sun, with Dacre Cottage behind

Crossing a stream in the bush above Karekare beach

8 July
Our Sunday walk and we’re off to Karekare, the beach where The Piano was filmed. Another glorious day and, with lunch packed, we’re off in a north-westerly direction. We start off on Highway 16 and the road gets progressively smaller and more and more twisting till the last stretch which is gravel and descends steeply to the little car park near the coast. We’ve done this walk twice before but never in such great weather. Steep climbing through bush to get us to the top of the ridge with just the occasional glimpse of the beach below us, then it levels out a bit and becomes very muddy. We were expecting this: last time we were here a woman fell, broke her leg and lay awaiting the helicopter rescue. The mud slows us down a lot as we have to pick our way through on roots and harder ground trying to avoid the mud pools.

Emerging from the gloomy bush into the bright sunshine in the reeds of the lagoon area

I guess it takes about 2 hours in all till we descend again to sea level , coming out from the cool gloom of the bush into the bright sunshine of the swamp area. The lagoons seem to have grown, I guess because it’s Winter, but the way is pretty clear over board walks through the reeds and under patches of cabbage tree. We see black swans again over in the distance and eventually reach the black sand dunes which in the bright sun are positively glittering. It’s a strange and beautiful place and wonderful for A&A who, still suffering from jet lag, feel as if they’ve just arrived in Wonderland.

Mike, Anne & Andy on the black (almost purple) glittering sand of the dunes at Karekare

We climb the first and largest dune and then flop down in the sun to eat lunch. After a long rest we meander through the sand dunes following the path indicated by orange-topped poles which guide us over to the tunnel. This is a magical place: a large lagoon immediately beneath the cliffs with welcome swallows darting across its surface and tiny fantails flitting about in the surrounding trees. A couple of Paradise Shell Ducks are hooting at eachother. We rest for a while at a conveniently placed picnic table before making our way through the tunnel which had been blasted through a spur of rock for the transporting of logs, back when the bush was stripped of most of its kauri trees. We walk along what was once a railway track, parallel to the cliff base, no longer on sand but through a lovely green area between cliffs and dunes, alive with birds, finally coming out onto the black sand of Karekare beach where it’s an easy walk back to the car park.

Walking back along the beach towards the car park

 12 July

During the week A&A have focussed on sorting out finances, buying a car, and planning their campaign, but on Thursday evening we set off on our road trip up north. Mike has the Friday and Monday off work and the plan is to get to the northernmost point at Cape Reinga with various stops on the way. First we drive up to Whangarei where we’re staying at Pilgrim Planet again for the night.

13 July

In the morning we plan to walk somewhere along the Tutukaka coast which stretches north of Whangarei up to the Bay of Islands. After the necessary coffee stop we find a perfect horse shoe bay at Matapouri. The sand is white and the sea a beautiful turquoise, it’s really tempting, and not too cold really so we can't resist a paddle.

Down the board walk to Matapouri Beach

We walk the curve of the beach and then climb a path up a bank at the far end. It’s a steep slippery climb and will be far worse on the way down but at the top we’re in a wonderful grove of nikau palms, their stripy trunks reminding Mike of the pillars at the Mezquita in Cordoba. We’re hoping to find a way round the headland and back a different route but it doesn’t pan out that way and we have to go back down the slippery slope, hanging onto branches like monkeys as we drop down to the beach again.

At the far end of the beach we climb the headland

Mike in a jungle of Nikau Palms

Looking back down on the beach from the top of the headland

It’s a great coastline and we’ll definitely be back but now we’re heading to Kerikeri where A&A are meeting some friends. We get there just in time for tea and cake with them, and then work our way on State Highway 1 through Kaitaia to Ahipara, arriving at dusk.

The longest footbridge in the Southern Hemisphere. We stopped here in search of lunch, but found none

Me on the balcony of our Beachfront flat as seen from the beach

We’re staying for 2 nights at Ahipara Beachfront which is a 2-bedroomed flat above the owner’s accommodation. It’s a super place with amazing views right onto the beach. This is the southern end of 90 mile beach which stretches almost all the way up to Cape Reinga. Loads of people drive on this beach and it is in fact a designated highway. We go out for a quick walk on the beach (not too many cars around) before eating a fish & chip supper, which included battered scallops and a delicacy called ‘raw fish’, which is exactly that, marinated in lime juice and coconut milk, and tastes great.

14 July
Happy Birthday Andy and it’s presents at breakfast. We’ve decided to follow our landlord's recommendation to do the Cape trip on a coach. Apparently it’s the best way, and will also gives Mike a break from the driving. We’re the first to be picked up at 8.30 from the house, and it’s a beaten up old Chinese bus with a tiny little Maori guy as driver. He seems rather grumpy and doesn’t say much as he drives around collecting other tourists from Ahipara and Kaitaia. When we’re all aboard he pulls over just before going onto the beach and gives us his introduction which is a bit of a send-up and has us all in fits of laughter. From this point on he’s a different person, giving us a wonderful commentary on where we are and what we’re seeing, interspersed with Maori myths and funny little tales he makes up himself for fun. When there’s a lull he sings us beautiful Maori songs, and of course we all sing Happy Birthday to Andy.

Our coach arrives on 90 Mile Beach, before heading north (it's actually only about 50 miles long)

Driving up the river towards the giant sand dune. We were on first and grabbed the front seats

Driving up the beach is great fun but we’re glad Mike’s not doing it in the company car, especially when we reach the river. Instead of crossing over it, he does a 90 degree turn and drives straight up it. You have to do this quickly apparently otherwise you begin to sink in the sand. We’re soon driving through reeds and heading towards a giant sand dune, still in the river, but eventually he pulls the bus up onto a bank and we all get out.

Trudging up the dune only to sledge down again

He gets a load of plastic sleds out of the bus and everyone carries their sled up to the top of the dune to slide back down again. I say everyone but actually I didn’t do it: I reckon it was probably more fun watching other people try. Most little kids flew down but some went head over heels or backwards and older bigger people had the greatest difficulty getting the sleds to move at all. Back in the bus we’re heading closer to Cape Reinga over the last stretch which is very hilly farmland.

We stop for lunch at a beach, eat our sandwiches and have our tea and biscuits (all part of the service) then go for a stroll on the beach before the final stretch to the Cape where there’s a large car park and good views down to the spit at the end. We walk down to the light house but as we only have about half an hour here there's not really enough time to walk down the beach at the foot of the cliffs or explore any of the paths around us. It’s an important spiritual place for the Maori but unfortunately you don’t really get a feel for this side of things when you’re here with coach loads of other people.

Looking south from Cape Reinga

The most northerly tip of New Zealand from where Maori spirits fly after death. Its a calm day so the 2 seas meeting here,
Pacific and Tasman, are relatively still.

All together at the base of the light house, Cape Reinga

After this it’s back in the bus for the return journey back down to Ahipara, by road this time, stopping off for enormous ice creams on the way. It’s been a really smashing day out for us all and a good birthday treat for Andy. Our little Maori guide made it a very special day which we won’t forget in a hurry.  Thank goodness we didn’t attempt it in our car!

This evening Mike cooks goat osso bucco for dinner with ‘raw fish’ as a starter and apricot crumble for pud. A worthy birthday dinner after a great day out.

15 July
The weather’s taken a turn for the worse as we pack up to leave Ahipara, so we decide to go for a walk in the morning before the rain comes. We head off south to Shipwreck Bay. It’s very grey and not much visibility, could start raining at any time. We’re mostly on sand or scrambling over rocks. Above us are the famous gum-digging fields of the 18^th and early 19^thcenturies where tons of valuable kauri gum were dug from the swamps to be used as varnishes in the western world. Nowadays Shipwreck Bay is famous for being a surfer’s paradise though we don’t see any here today.

Buried ship in the middle of Shipwreck Bay

But guess what, there really is a genuine wreck right in the middle of it. Obviously been there a very long time and covered in rust and barnacles. We’re doing this walk at low tide and are able to walk right around the headland on great flat rocky outcrops. We see another baby seal struggling to get back into the water. Cars are also able to drive around here so we have to keep out of their way, mostly Maori families off for a day’s fishing, one group even on horseback. We settle against the cliff base for our picnic, then continue round to another secluded bay. There are a few ramshackle baches dotted around though no access except for the beach at low tide or boat I guess.



At low tide locals drive around the base of the cliffs to go fishing

A peaceful pearly grey day, and as we’re on our way back a gentle rain begins to fall. By the time we’re back at the car it’s proper rain which only gets worse as we do a bit of shopping and set off driving south for the Tree House through forest and hilly farmland all very wet. Mike’s attempt to get us all to Mitimiti Beach fails again as it turns out to be 3 hours away according to the SatNav. During the journey we get very good at identifying varieties of cows, seeing belted Galloways and Charolais as well as the usual Fresians and Jerseys. In fact there are far more cattle than sheep up here, maybe the sheep are mostly in South Island. At the Tree House Pauline makes us welcome as usual, Anne cooks a lovely mushroom risotto, and we settle into our bunks for the night, after a frantic game of 99, which I win incidentally (sorry Anne!).

16 July
A miserable wet Monday morning. We pack up quickly and shoot off to Kohukohu for a splendid breakfast sitting outside under cover with the heaters on. We catch the ferry over to Rawene, do the little Art Gallery and the famous pickle shop, grab a coffee, and then set off down the west coast highway.

We stop at Tane Mahuta, the largest living Kauri tree, which A&A haven’t yet seen. You can’t fail but be moved by its massive presence. Getting out the car we’d heard a loud fizzing noise and find we have a puncture which Mike and Andy fix in record time while me and Anne shelter from the rain. We continue the drive south on a winding road through the Waipoua Forest.

Lunch in Dargaville then next stop is the Kauri Museum. It’s fantastic and enormous containing everything to do with the Kauri tree industry, from early logging days and Kauri gum digging, to the largest carved gum collection and a life size 19th century 2 story boarding house. It also has massive machinery some of it still operating and Andy’s most impressed by their huge collection of chain saws.

We continue the journey home in the gathering dusk and pouring rain. This evening, it being our last together for a while, we go out to eat at our favourite Japanese restaurant, Tatsumi, exquisite food in a beautiful setting.

17 July
A&A’s car arrives and we say goodbye, as they head off south on their big adventure: new car, new country, new life. Very exciting!

Hamilton's Gap, 1 July

Having jumped over the stream we head north

We set off south again to stop at Hamilton’s Gap on the west coast of the Awhitu peninsular. Another beautiful day as we set off jumping over a stream and walking north from the car park at the Gap. It’s another area of compacted sand which has been sea and weather eroded into some amazing shapes. There are also large chunks of what looks like iron ore encased in the solid orange sand and many of the rocks have small mussels encrusted on them, which glitter in the bright sunlight.



Mussel beds glittering

We walk around a protruding headland and looking back realise that the tide is coming up so we need to turn round and walk the other way to avoid being cut off. Seeing another car skeleton reinforces the decision; we don’t really want to be forced to climb up into the dunes.

Black sand, with orange compacted sand shapes, looking south

So after lunch we turn around and just south of the Gap we see a beautiful baby seal just dragging himself out of the surf. The poor little thing is clearly confused and not sure which way to go. We keep our distance though I’d dearly love to go up and stroke him. Eventually he turns around and heads back to sea and we can see his Mum swimming about off shore waiting for him.



Such an adorable little seal I wanted to take him home with me

Beatiful little rock pools

The rocks down this way are even more bizarre in shape and colour and we spend some time exploring. After heading back to the car we pass the best public toilets I think I’ve ever seen, with the exception of Hundertwasser’s in Kawakawa. It’s beautifully designed to fit with its surroundings, looking like it’s made out of drift wood and nestling into clumps of flax against the sand dunes.

Strange chap peering through a hole in the rock

Strange woman clambering about on rocks

One beautifully designed dunny

After our walk we drive up to the northern tip of the peninsular to the lighthouse and look across the mouth of Manukau Harbour to Whatipu where we’ve walked many times now. We can also see the Auckland CBD in the far distance across the width of the harbour.