A quick trip around Northland ...
Written: Jan 20 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Some great scenery along the way.
Cons: Slow drivers in camper vans and rental cars.
The Bottom Line: Long trip report ... again.
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| hollynz's Full Review: Northland |
Hubby and I jumped in the car and headed off for a few days just after Christmas. The summer weather was gorgeous, the holiday crowds were starting to thin out again after the festive season and so we thought the time was right to head north.
We only had a few days free so figured we would do a quick road trip around the region north of Auckland ... following in the footsteps of Captain Cooks simplistic method of naming places, this region is called ... NORTHLAND.
First days driving was to get ourselves from home on the East Coast, to the other side of Auckland. We made the Auckland motorway around 4pm and got caught up in traffic. We slowly made our way across the harbour bridge to the North Shore and drove until the motorway stopped. We ended up in the lovely township of Orewa, about a 30 minute drive from Auckland city.
Now I'm not altogether sure that Orewa is officially part of the region known as Northland but it is definitely not a suburb of greater Auckland. We decided that this was where we would stop for the night and found a room at the Golden Sands Motel for (NZ)$107. This was most definitely overpriced but in a small and popular holiday town by the sea in peak season, this was the norm.
The motel is right on the beachfront and the beachfront rooms had the calming soothing sound of the ocean waves lapping on the shore which would have been nice ... but at (NZ)$ 170 -190 a night, they were way to expensive for me.
Our room was tiny and close to the road. The down side to Orewa is that the main highway north runs through the main street and so, as a consequence, does all the traffic heading north and south .. including heavy trucks, cattle and sheep trucks and logging trucks. I didn't think I was going to sleep at all well but surprised myself by getting a great nights sleep. The only thing that bothered me during the night was being uncomfortably warm in the Northland climate.
We loved this town though and enjoyed our one evening here. The town is set on a lovely beach with a few islands dotted in the distance and an interesting shopping village to explore right across the road from the beach. The amount of Real Estate offices was a sign that this town is taking off, building developments could be seen all over the place so no doubt, in 20 years time or so this town will be a lot bigger.
We had a meal at an Indian restaurant ... love those curries!!! and walked the town and beach for an hour or so before heading back to the motel to sleep.
Orewa to Kaitaia
We left Orewa around 10am and headed north on Highway 1. We drove through pretty ordinary country, catching a glimpse of lovely coastline from time to time before heading inland a bit. We branched off Highway 1 at a place called Brynderwyn and turned onto Highway 12 which would take us along the western side of Northland. Brynderwyn
wasn't anything more than a petrol station but there were large signs all over the place indicating the split in highways.
This drive was pretty boring farmland for the most part, I would have preferred to be closer to the sea but it wasn't to be. We stopped off at The Kauri Museum and had a quick look around. We decided not to bother with the Museum itself after discovering there was a (NZ)$10 entrance fee, we weren't interested enough in learning about Kauri to spend $20 so we checked out the few outside exhibits instead.
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Kauri is a tree that grows in this area and is one of the worlds big boys. This tree is the biggest growing tree in all of New Zealand and some trees around today are around 2000 years old. In the early pioneer days of New Zealand a whole industry was set up around these trees, milling them for there valuable timber and because they were so tall, they made perfect ships masts. The Kauri gum industry was huge as well but as I didn't visit the museum itself, I can't tell you what they actually did with the gum.
... hmmm, maybe I should have forked out the 20 bucks after all.
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We pulled into Dargaville and decided it must be lunchtime. This town wasn't anything to write home about at all. It was a rural service centre with a main street that ran for about 6 blocks or so. We walked up and down looking for somewhere to have lunch and decided on a cafe. Bad choice in the end but we won't go there.
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Back on the road again and after a while we started to climb a bit and we entered the Waipoua Forest.This was one of the main reasons we came this way as this forest is the only home of the mighty Kauri Trees of New Zealand.
The drive through the forest was one of the highlights of our trip through Northland. The thick native bush frames the road for miles and Kauris loom up beside the road making their almost majestic presence felt.
We called in to the Visitors Centre to use the loo and have a bit of a break from driving. The centre is off the main highway and the road becomes a dusty dirt road which narrows as it follows along beside a small river.We had to stop for passing traffic from time to time as it was quite busy.
The centre itself had maps and brochures of the park as well as a bit of a display of flora and fauna of the area along with a short history lesson of the early days, pre -european and early pioneer times.
The thing I enjoyed the most here was sitting at the picnic table reading the brochures listening to the calls of the birds. The Tui were singing there hearts out and flitting around high in the trees above. There were quite a few hiking trails heading off in all directions but we weren't here for hiking ... this is a quick road trip after all.
Next stop along the way was to pay our respects to the man himself ... Tane Mahuta
Tane Mahuta ( Lord of the Forest)is the biggest tree in New Zealand with a girth of over 13 metres. He stands 51 metres high but his wide belly gives him a rather squat appearance for one so large. He is thought to be 1200 years old.
A short walk from the main road will bring you face to trunk with Tane Mahuta, he stands in a glade of native forest and his imposing self stands out amongst all the other trees like a sore thumb. I would like to have given him a hug but he is fenced off. I'm sure everybody would love to hug him and the damage done by thousands of visitors would no doubt cause fatal damage to his root system and eventually kill him.
We stood in awe of him for a while before making our way back to the car.
The oldest tree in the forest is Te Matua Ngahere ( Father of the Forest). He is about 2000 years old and is another popular walk. He is the 2nd largest tree but we didn't take this walk as we were trying to get to Rawene to catch the car ferry that was leaving at 3:30pm.
We drove off through more spectacular forest before coming back out to farmland once more.
Another great sight along the way were the huge sand dunes of Hokianga Harbour inlet. There is a viewing area at the top of the hill so pull off for a while and take in the scene before you.
The views of the dunes and harbour below make a lovely sight and well worth a photo or three.
We wound our way down the steep hill to the shores of the harbour and passed the small beachside towns of Omapere and Opononi. There were holiday makers camping, swimming, kayaking and sunbathing all along this idyllic stretch of coastline.
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Opononi is famous in New Zealand for being the area that was befriended by a wild dolphin who came to be known as Opo. This was back in the mid 50's and people flocked to the area to see him. Opo swam with the kids and loved to be with people so much that he would come into the shallows to mingle with the crowds.
Driving through the small township I noted that the a few of the local establishments had names that linked them with Opo the dolphin ... nearly 50 years on.
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We arrived in the small town of Rawene around 3:10pm. We joined the line of cars waiting for the car ferry across the Hokianga Harbour to rejoin the highway on the other side. The ferry runs all day and crosses pretty much every half hour. We thought we would have a little time to explore this small town but the ferry was docking and we were driving on about 5 minutes later. The town was small but cute and I rued the fact we didn't have time for a coffee and a look around the antique shops for a while.
The car ferry was good fun, it cost (NZ)$14 for the car and driver and $2 per extra passenger. We could have by-passed the car ferry and driven around or rejoined Highway 1 but we enjoyed the novelty of taking the ferry across the harbour.
It took about 15 minutes all up and we were driving off once more. We stopped at a cafe in the next small village of Kohukohu. We had a coffee on the over water veranda of the cafe. The historic building is now a small restaurant which no doubt does a good business to the passing motorists. The area seemed to have a few holiday makers but most business would come from tourists I would imagine. If you are going this way do stop here, it was a very pleasant to spend 15 minutes or so, they do a great Flat White coffee and the menu board looked pretty appealing as well.
The township is quite popular for it's historic buildings but most are not seen from the highway.
From here we stayed with the H.12 all the way to Kaitaia. It took about an hour and apart from hubby really enjoying driving the empty, winding country road like a rally driver, there wasn't any reason to take this route over the shorter option of rejoining Highway 1 at the turnoff after Kohukohu.
We got into Kaitaia around 5pm, found a room for (NZ)$85 at the Wayfarer Motel on the main road. This was a way better room than the night before and I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.
We went for a walk downtown to see about something for dinner but nothing caught our eye. We ended up getting food from the supermarket and cooking dinner at the motel, the great thing about New Zealand motels is that alot have a small kitchenette furnished with pots and pans and everything you need. This helps cut costs as well when travelling as cooking your own meals always work out cheaper than dining out every night.
Kaitaia is the large town of the far north and is a base for a lot of the Tour Operators that offer tours to Cape Reinga. Check out the Visitors Centre and they will be only to happy to let you know what is available.
Kaitaia to Paihia
We couldn't head to Paihia without doing the trip out to Cape Reinga first. It is about 115 kilometers out to the Cape Reinga Lighthouse and the only way back is the way you came or alternately, hit the beach and drive along 90 Mile Beach.
The beach drive is very popular and most of the tour buses, 4x4 safaris and a few naughty tourists in rental cars (tut tut) make the beach drive but we didn't fancy taking our own car along the beach. 90 Mile Beach is in fact, only 60 miles long ... beats me how it got it's name though.
We stuck to the highway for our trip and enjoyed the trip out, the tip of the North Island is a narrow finger of land with the Pacific Ocean on the eastern side and the Tasman Sea on the west. The farm land is fairly standard New Zealand most of the way but becomes a high rolling plateau towards the end with glimpses of the white, white sands on the eastern coastline in the distance.
The last 20 kilometres are unsealed so roll up the windows and stay out of the dust kicked up by all the cars and buses heading out to the lighthouse.The road is pretty good and has plenty of room for two cars to pass comfortably. Even though this point is not officially the most northern ... ( that honour belongs to North Cape which is a way more serious drive on rough unsealed roads) ... the Cape Reinga trip is very popular on the tourist trail.
The lighthouse is an easy walk from the car park and for those mad keen hikers, head down the Dept. of Conservation trail to the beach if you feel the need. The trail down looks fine, its the trip back up that I dread.
On the other side is Piwhane Bay (Spirits Bay). This area is very, very special to the Maori people as they believe this is the place that the spirits of the dead leave the shores of this land and make the journey back to the land of the spirits. The public are asked not to walk down to the picturesque bay seen from the top as this area is of huge spiritual significance to the Maori people.
The other thing of note here is that this is the spot that the two oceans meet and just off the rocks you can see the waves smashing and swirling around as the two currents meet each other.
There is no cafe or shop out here but there are toilets ... thankfully. There is a cafe and campground 20 kilometres back, just before the road becomes unsealed.
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From here we made our way to the eastern side of Northland and took highway 10 to Doubtless Bay. This area is a very popular holiday spot and now I know why. It is drop dead gorgeous with small bays and coves with holiday homes tucked snuggly on hillsides or along the beach. Small townships dot the coast line for a few miles and we passed by bay after bay of lovely beaches and a smattering of holidaymakers enjoying the environs.
We found ourselves in the historic town of Mangonui and decided to stop and explore for a while. This small town is set on a natural harbour and the narrow main street runs along the waterfront with old historic buildings across the road. The town was a hive of activity with Art & Craft shops, cafes and restaurants. We went for a walk around and checked out a few of the Historic sites throughout the township, there is an historic trail to follow if you are so inclined but we headed to a waterfront cafe for a spot of lunch.
Mangonui means " Big Shark " and legend has it that a large shark led the Maori explorer Kupe here.
The name Doubtless Bay is courtesy of Captain Cook again and the story goes, when his ship passed by this area a crew member said ..." doubtless another bay here".
I think by the time Cook arrived in New Zealand he must have used up all the good names as New Zealand really seems to have dipped out in the naming department.
Once we left Mangonui the highway tracked inland again until we reached the delightful town of Paihia in the Bay of Islands. ( review coming) We spent one night here before heading back to Auckland and then making the long trek home again.
It was definitely well worth the effort to drive the region and I highly recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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hollynz
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Member: Christine
Location: New Zealand
Reviews written: 142
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~ In memory of Barbara ~
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