Three Day Roadtrip North - Day 3

My first night of beach camping at Rarawa Beach went ok, however, having not planned to camp in the car I had no provisions for how to make myself coffee that next morning. It was a really really good thing there was a nice beach sunrise nearby to wake me up.

 



 

 

I woke up at first light and got there in time to even catch the moon before the sun made its appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

Not a bad way at all to wake up and especially not a bad way to spend Easter morning! But I am a pretty caffeine dependent person so it wasn't long before I was off in search of somewhere to get a cup of coffee. And now realizing that it was Easter Sunday morning in the far far North, I knew this was going to quite possibly be a long search.  

As I was leaving I did see Turkeys! I have hardly seen any turkey in the grocery store at all so this at least proved to me that they exist in New Zealand. There is a little hope I can find one for Thanksgiving later this year. 

As I continued back south I found the "northern most tavern in New Zealand" which also claimed to have a café.... however, they were no open. The search continued. I next made it to Pukenui but found that the café there while it said it was suppose to be open... wasn't. So by then I was to the point where I wanted to cut over to 90 Mile Beach and travel along the "costal road" that was shown on my trusty little map. I would just have to ignore my caffeine cravings for a little while.

 

 

After about 20 minutes of what we would call dirt roads at best here I reached 90 Mile Beach in all of its wide open west coast glory. Now I had been told quite a lot about driving on 90 Mile Beach and all about how locals use it as a road but tourists just use it to lose rental cars on. I had promised not to drive on the beach at all! 

 

After all, this dune buggy type vehicle was not what I was driving and that was what I thought of when I think of what should drive on a beach! But when I got there and saw car after car pulling onto the beach, I realized I was apparently not thinking at all like most people. I saw people with little tiny rental cars, even a convertible whip out onto the sand and head off into the mist. I in contrast, parked Bumble Bee off side of the road prior to reaching the beach and walked out on the beach. This got me a lot of odd looks! But I found this nice little jelly fish while I was there!

 

What I didn't find was the "costal road" that was on the map. I found it rather confusing that they had listed a separate road a little ways off the beach when clearly what they really were referring to is the "road" that was the beach. As I had no intention of breaking my promise I headed back to good old Highway 1.

 

Along the way back I was able to snap a picture of some of the wild horses that live near 90 Mile Beach on the North Island. I wasn't able to get very close and they did not stick around very long once they spotted me.

 

Back on the main highway I stopped in at The Ancient Kauri Kingdom where I was very pleased to find a good coffee and a nice scone. I also was pretty amazed at some of the larger Kauri pieces that they had including this spiral staircase contained completely in one tree trunk.

 

 From there I took a road that reminded me of home out to Ahipara at the base of 90 Mile Beach. Funny the way that you see signs that remind you of home all over the world!

 

 

Sadly the weather wasn't working in my favor and the beach was a little chilly that morning in Ahipara. That wasn't stopping the locals from coming out and enjoying some wind surfing though!

 

 

 

 

 

At this point I decided I had lucked out with weather most of the weekend and had been able to see almost everything I had on my list. I headed south but wasn't too disappointed that the rain picked up and didn't let up much until I had made it all the way back to Mungatapere. The weekend was over 400 miles of driving, countless one lane bridges, dozens of gorgeous beaches and quite an overall amazing time.



Three Day Roadtrip North - Day 2



I headed out the start of the second day with one last place to visit in Kerikeri, Rainbow Falls. This was a waterfall right almost in the middle of the town and it is really beautiful.  

 

After some time playing with the camera and waterfall I set out on part of the roadtrip that had been recommended as a really beautiful drive. The drive was up along Matauri Bay road and that was actually my first stop.

 

This is a really beautiful area that is popular in the summer with both holiday goers and surfers. The view coming into the bay that morning was quite a treat for sure.

 

I was able to enjoy my coffee and a little beach combing while watching some of the local surfers enjoying the morning waves.

 

 

I then climbed up the hill to the Rainbow Warrior Memorial. The Rainbow Warrior ship was sunk off the coast of Matauri Bay near the Cavalli Islands. It is now a popular diving destination.

I thought that the memorial and the map along with the view from the top were well worth the steep climb. 

 

I continued my drive around the coast and was continually treated to the beautiful and rugged coastline. For some reason I had thought that as went farther north the island would be more gentle and flat, but as you can see, that was definitely not the case.

 

I couldn't help but be fascinated with all of the hanging moss along the quite road too, this tree was just completely covered in fuzzy moss like a lot of the fences.

 

After traveling along the Wainui road I reached the Whangaroa Harbour where it appeared a lot of fishing takes place.

Mangonui was the next little spot that I arrived at. I was there on market day and got to look around at some of the local crafts and goods.

It is the home of a pretty famous fish and chip (pronounced "fush and chups") shop too. I didn't partake as it was a bit early still and I had heard that they were a bit pricy!

 

The next area I was really excited to check out was My Peninsula. I liked when people asked how I spelled my name to say it is Kari like the peninsula not the town!

While there I visited my winery and was quite impressed with the view. I didn't sample the vintages, but I did grab a bottle since it had my name on it! 

 

From the winery I went to do a climb that was suppose to give you views of pretty much the entire peninsula from the top. It was well worth the side trip. You could see the beautiful beaches and the darker water of the swamp lands and lakes as well.

 

From my Penisula, I made my push for the far north tip of the North Island, Cape Reinga. The hills and views continued with the drive up the very skinny part of the island.

 

But as I reached close to the top the sand and rock became more of a golden color. To the west of the cape there were large golden beaches.

 

The point is very special, there is a light house and it is where two oceans meet and also where the Maori people believe that souls depart this world for the afterlife.

 

All around the trails there were plaques explaining some of the Maori legends.

 

To the west there were rough hills and cliffs.

 

The Kiwi's are big fans of sign posts like this, frequently you will see them along roads telling nearby towns but these gave you a little bit more of a global relation to where you are.

 

Cape Reinga is also the meeting place of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. I tried to capture the way that the waves kris crossed as the two merged.

It was a great place to spend the afternoon wandering reading the information and soaking up some sunshine.

The last place I visited up on the very top of the island was Spirits Bay, the Maori people consider much of the area very sacred. This bay is part of the areas that they believe is part of the stepping off point for the journey after death.
 

 

It was at this point that I decided I had better head back south and find somewhere for the second night. I had been on the lookout for backpackers along the way up and thought that finding a place for the night. I had however underestimated how long driving back down the long winding road would take so as darkness closed in I decided to try my first night of beach camping. For 7$ I got to park my little bumble bee in the campground and use the facilities there. I had a good old pb&j sandwich that I enjoyed and I called it an early night under the stars.