We stopped in the small town of Kawakawa which is famous for it's toilets!! At this point I have to say how impressed I am with the provision of public toilets in this country, it seems that almost every town, small or large, has well sign posted and well appointed public conveniences. Matakana has some very smart ones but Kawakawa's toilets take some beating! They were designed by an Austrian, Friedensreich Hundertwasser and have become a major tourist attraction. They are certainly unlike any other toilets I have ever visited and believe me that is quite a few over the years!
http://www.bay-of-islands-nz.com/hundertwasser.shtml
Arriving in Pahia we parked the car and sussed out the many motels. We wanted a motel pretty close to the centre of the town and restaurants and settled on the Bay View which was a 5 minute walk from the town centre. We booked in and settled in our apartment of large dining/sitting/kitchen area plus large double bedroom and adjoining bathroom. I went for a walk around town to get my bearings. The town centre is compact and surrounds the quayside providing many restaurants, gift shops and agencies for booking trips in the Bay. On my return we took advantage of the spa pool which soothed our weary bones before going out to dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant.
On Saturday we caught the ferry, just a 10 minute trip, over to Russell. I had read a book about the history of the town and was very keen to visit it. It is now a calm, beautiful little town at the waters edge quite different from what it was in the 1800's. Russell was originally called Kororareka, which means sweet penguin as they were sweet to eat! It was renamed Russell in honour of Lord John Russell and was the first capital of New Zealnd from 1840-1841. It had been known as the Hell Hole of the Pacific as it was used as a shore station for the many whaling ships in the Pacific. In those days the now quiet waterfront had housed many ale houses and brothels and gained a reputation as a lawless and bawdy port. There was a lot of troubles in the 1840's between the Maoris and the settlers and in 1845 the town was sacked and the settlers left. Only 2 buildings survived, the Anglican church, which is the oldest in NZ and the catholic mission. Once the war in the North was over the ton was gradually rebuilt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell,_New_Zealand
Once in Russell we walked along the waterfront and found a cafe where we sat outside by the shore and had a late breakfast. We were lucky with the weather, it was a calm, sunny day with not too much wind. After our meal we continued along the water front and visited the museum. We both love looking around these small town museums and learning about the history of the places we visit.
http://www.russellmuseum.org.nz/
Our next stop was at the Anglican church, a tiny wooden building, which is the oldest surviving chuch in NZ. The graveyard was fascinating and in a way told the history of the town by it's gravestones. A grave and headstone erected in memory of 6 young British men who died whilst defending the town in 1845 was a poignant reminder of those harsh times.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/hms-hazard-memorial
We spent some time sitting by the waterfront, watching the world go by, reading the paper and enjoying the peace and quiet before strolling back to the ferry for our short trip back to Pahia.
Although we had only intended staying for 2 nights we decided to stay an extra night as we were so enjoying our time there. Another spa bath and another good meal and we were soon ready for bed.
On Sunday I took a dolphin watching cruise in the morning, Nigel wasn't too keen on going so after we had walked to the wharf we said goodbye and I boarded the bright yellow Explore NZcatamaran.
http://www.explorenz.co.nz/Dolphin-Discoveries/index.html
We left at 9am and went over to Russell to pick up more passengers before setting out for our cruise around the B~ay of Islands. The weather wasn't as good as the previous day, cloudy and blustery but no rain. The catamaran has lots of seating inside but I along with another 10 or so passengers sat on the upper deck outside. There was a photographer on board and I chatted with her and learned that she was from Derby - a long way from home! She had been in Pahia for 6 years and was loving her life here. Within half an hour our captain had sighted a pod of dolphins and we slowed down to take a closer look. Unfortunately the boat was pitching and rolling in the choppy seas so I was unable to take any photographs. A magical 5 minutes or so though watching these beautiful creatures leaping and playing in the water so close to our boat. Although I'm a good sailor I was quite relieved when the waters settled down a bit and it became possible to enjoy the scenery without clinging on like grim death!
We settled down again after our dolphin encounter and carried on first to Roberton/Motuarohia Island where CaptainCook visited, anchoring off Cook's Cove in 1769.
Then we went on to the Brett Paninsula and its isolated lighthouse before stopping to look at the famous hole in the rock At times it is possible to cruise through it but today the sea wan't behaving itself and we had to content our selves with just admiring it's splendour, Then on to look into the other famous sight of the Cathedral Cave.
We now turned back towards home travelling by a different route and stopping off at the island of Otehi for a welcome coffee and stroll around this beautiful island before getting back to Pahia at 1pm. Nigel was waiting for me and by this time I was pretty hungry so we repaired to the famous waterside restaurant and aquarium for lunch.
http://www.35south.co.nz/
In the afternoon we went for a short drive to Waitangi, best known for being the location where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on February 6, 1840; however, it is also the place where the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand was signed five years prior, on October 28, 1835. This document was ratified by the British Crown the following year (1836). The whole area is beautifully kept and adjoins a beautiful golf course. I had hoped to visit the grounds and treaty house but an admission fee of 25nzd put us off doing so! We parked by the golf course and took a walk along a footpath leading to Hururu Falls. A beautiful bush walk but after half an hour or so we decided to turn back as there was no sight or sound of the falls. On arriving back at the car park we noticed that the walk to the falls is 5kms so perhaps as well that we had decided not to carry on.
Tree Ferns, Waitangi.
We then drove on to Hururu Falls, on the Waitangi River, before going back to our motel for a spa bath and then our evening meal. We went to an Italian restaurant and had a chat with our waitress who was from Halifax in Yorkshire!
We said farewell to Pahia the next morning and set off to drive to the top of North Island. We stopped for a while in the pretty town of Keri Keri for a look around and then carried on towards our next destination of Doubtless Bay. The weather was not too good, grey and showery but not cold.
As we drove through the small township of Kaeo we noticed a museum. We both love looking as these small, local museums so we stopped and went in. A beautifully kept museum which had been purpose built, quite an achievement for a town of less than 500 residents.Two local, volunteer ladies were there and they were very chatty and informative and even allowed us to take some photoes. We spent a very interesting hour or more there learning of the history of the area and it's residents.
One item on display was the now redundant telephone exhange accompanied by the following notice.
Extract from the 10th June 1882
" Whangaroa. The telephone between here and Kaeo was opened for the transmission of messages on the 25th May 1882 and on that evening on the kindess of Mr White, the telegraphist, a number of ladies and gentlemen at Kaeo and Whangaroa ommunicated with each other. Songs were sung, jokes exhanged and messages passed to and fro with great rapidity, each lady and gentleman being delighted with the novelty of conversing with friends six miles apart."
A far cry from now when we can speak and even see people on the other side of the world via the internet and skype!
Leaving the museum we left the main road and drove through Whangaroa to Taurango Bay passing many oyster beds in the bay. We had a snack at the pub in Taurango Bay which was virtually deserted at this time of year although, in the holiday season, it is a very popular place. We drove back to the main road and on to our destination for the evening at Mangonui on Doubtless Bay. The bay was named by Captain Cook who, when he sailed by, is purported to have said "Doubtless there is a bay in there." There are several popular holiday resorts lining the bay but we had been told that Mangonui was the best one. The weather was not very good, rather chilly and windy but at least it was dry. We soon realised that there was not much in the way of accommodation open at this time of year but found the Waterfront Motel which, as it's name implies, is on the waterfront. The motel has been there since the early 1900's and from the outside most of it's historical features have been retained although, thankfully, the interiors of the spacious accomodation have been modernised. We had a stroll along the waterfront which seems to look as it did decades ago but has been well cared for and a sense of history pervades the village. Despite the weather I was pleased to see the place without the influx of summer visitors when it must lose some of it's charm.
Mangonui is home to the "World Famous Fish and Chip shop" and I felt that we had to go and see if it's claim to fame was true. Certainly it's situation built out over the harbour would take some beating as would the freshness of the fish coming from the fishing boats moored up next to the shop. Having been born and bred in Yorkshire and being close to the world famous Harry Ramsden fish shop (now sold out and not very good) as well as many local fish and chip shops I was sceptical about their claim to fame. I asked the lady who took our order if she had ever heard of Harry Ramsden's but of course she hadn't ! I did learn though that they cook their fish and chips in beef dripping which is what most Yorkshire fish shops used before we all became so health conscious. The fish of the day was Blue Moki (neither of us had heard of it!) so we ordered 2 lots of fish and chips and went and sat at a trestle table. Our meal was cooked to order and was served wrapped in paper as it would be in a take away shop. So what was our verdict? Well the fish was beautiful but sadly not enough of it! The chips were crisp and almost perfect. I think that if they were in competition with some UK fish shops such as the one in Whitby they would be beaten hands down!
We were now almost at Cape Reinga, the northern extremity of New Zealand which sticks out on the top left of the map. It's 116km each way to the lighthouse from Kaitaia and we had been debating whether or not to make the trip - it seemed a shame to be so near and not to make the trip. The weather made up our minds for us on the Tuesday morning as it was blowing a gale and pouring down. Heavy rain which continued unabated all day. We set off to make the drive down the west coast and home. It wasn't a pleasant drive and I think that my navigator (!) made a couple of errors which made it a longer journey than was necessary! This part of NZ is semi-tropical and the vegetation is very lush. The roads are lined with canna lilies and Agapanthus although they are not in flower now.
Our route took us throught the Waipoua Forest, a twisty, hilly route of 20 kms or so. There was very little traffic and it felt as if we were driving through a tunnel of greenery with the rain making the branches of the trees and tree ferns hang heavily over the road. The forest ofs Waipoua, and the adjoining forests of Mataraua and Waima, make up the largest remaining tract of native forest in Northland. Most of Northland's ancient forest cover has been lost to saw and fire, plundered for the precious timber of the kauri tree or cleared for farmland. However the forests are now under the protection of the Department of Conservation. I had wanted to walk in the forest and see some of the majestic kauri trees but with the rain teeming down this was impossible. I did get out of the car and run to the nearest big speciman, although I got wet through I'm so glad that I was able to see the largest living kauri in New Zealand, Tane Mahuta has a 13.77-metre girth, a trunk height of 17.68 metres and a total height of 51.5 metres.
http://www.waipouaforest.hokianga.co.nz/
No photo can portray the hugeness of this tree, it's only when standing in front of it and looking up, up and up that one registers the enormity of it's size.
I hope that at some point during our stay we shall be able to return and spend more time in this amazing forest.
Finally we got back home after a long day on the road and the prospect of relaxing for a few days before picking up Jonny for the weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment