Whangarei Basin to Bay Walk

I decided to take a nice long walk on one of the Saturday last weekends that I was there to see several of the beautiful spots around town that are all linked with a trail. I started out at the top of Whangarei Falls and enjoyed a nice path from the top of the waterfall all the way around to the bottom.

 

 

It was a little bright to try and blur the water but it was fun to try and there were a lot of good spots to try.

Once I got to the bottom there was a trail along the stream that led towards town. Along the way I found some boys trying out the local swimming hole. 

 

 

What I didn't get a picture of were all of the "No Swimming" signs!

 

I really loved how this path followed the stream all the way down and from the area around the falls went into the A.H. Reed Park that had very nice native forest areas. Including a large area of Pongas, or as I like to call them Palm Ferns. 



 

 

The A.H. Reed park also has a really unique portion of the trail that is elevated so that you are actually walking up in the canopy of the trees. It gives a very different perspective than most trails.  

From the A. H. Reed Park the trail worked into Mair Park. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and there were quite a few people taking advantage of the day. 

 

After leaving Mair Park I walked through a little area that linked the park to the Mangrove Walk.

 

At the end I reached the city basin and was able to walk along the boardwalk through the mangroves. It was a pretty good walk all the way down so I decided on the way back I would climb up to the top of Parihaka.

 

It was a big climb after a long walk but the views from the top were worth it. The whole town is pretty much visible and the hill to the right on the horizon is the Mountain that I was calling "home". I think all together I ended up walking 9 miles that day and kept thinking that was the kind of trail that would be perfect for long training runs, except for the Mount Parihaka part!

 

The Flowers of Rummery Manor

My mom has commented that a lot of my pictures are of green things here and she is worried I might have  a hard time moving back to the desert. I would have to agree that I have liked living somewhere that beautiful plants grow EVERYWHERE!  I can't help but think of my sad little potted plants back at home and feeling so sorry for them. The flowers that grow here are just everywhere. I've never had a green thumb or really been that interested in what different flowers are but here you just can't help it. Talk about it being easy to impress a girl here, just grab a few flowers that are growing along the road! Although....the girls here are maybe so use to these flowers it wouldn't impress them....Anyway! These flowers were not just growing anywhere, they are from the gardens all around the house that I was housesitting in Whangarei. It doesn't take long to see that lots of work goes into these gardens and I had fun snapping pictures around the house.

 

 

And they don't just grow impressive flowers. They have a gorgeous grape vine around their deck, a lemon tree, a peach tree along the drive and passion fruit too. I really enjoyed the little garden as well which gave me some nice little peppers and herbs for cooking.

 

 

There was just something so nice about walking outside and picking food to take back into cook. It reminded me of when I was younger since my mom always had a garden. It has been a little bit interesting to realize that some of the things I like here do remind me of home a little and for some reason I didn't appreciate them until I was here. I guess it is easy to over look what is right in front of you, but when you are in another country you are trying not to overlook anything. 

Figs and Fejoas

While I was in Whangarei I got to have a lot of wonderful fresh produce from around the area. Fejoas were new to me and I really liked them. Figs were also something that I had not had fresh before so when I got the chance to go and pick both I jumped at the chance.

 

 

These two really wanted us to share our pickings!

The Quarry Gardens

The next Friday Jeanette and I were able to visit the Quarry Gardens in Whangarei. It is an impressive community project that has created a sub tropical garden in an old quarry. Because of the sheltered area it stays very warm and they are able to grow a remarkable variety of plants. All of the garden work is done by volunteers and it has inspired other community gardens.

 

 

I was very jealous of their hibiscus and wish that I could get mine back in Arizona to look half as good!