34.4288° S, 172.6805° E Cape Reinga

Our original plan for today was to drive west to Waipoua National Forest and then go to Cape Reinga the next day.

Our B&B host Gordon said – “you are doing it backwards, mate” – & recommended a scenic drive to Cape Reinga today. After looking at the weather which was to be sunny today and raining tomorrow, we decided to follow Gordon’s advice.

We left Russell at 9:30 am for the 3 1/2 hour drive to Cape Reinga at the northern end of the North Island. We drove on the winding and twisting road through rolling hills, green plateaus and alongside ocean views.

It was well worth the effort! The views at the Cape were stunning.

The entire site is very well done.

There is a wide, paved pathway from the parking lot down to the lighthouse & numerous interpretative / information signs strategically located at various viewpoints.

At the Cape, the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean in a spectacular swirl of currents.

No matter what direction we looked in the views were amazing.

According to Maori legend, Cape Reinga is where the spirits of the dead leap into the ocean to return to their ancestral homeland of Hawaiki.

We spent about 90 minutes at the Cape enjoying the views & then started the drive to the town of Kaitaia where we had booked a hotel room for the night.

We stopped at a nearby beach at Tapotupotu Bay, down a narrow gravel road full of switchbacks & had a light lunch while enjoying more fantastic views & solitude.

Cath spotted several Oystercatchers along the shoreline.

Our next stop along the way was to see some of the Giant Te Paki sand dunes along the 90 Mile Beach that are 10 km long, 1 km wide and 150m (500 feet) high.

It’s a popular spot for people to climb to the top of the dune & then “surf” down on a board rented from a local shop.

Definitely a young crowd here. We opted to keep driving as it looked like a long steep walk to the top!

On our way there we passed through some sheep grazing lands. These guys seemed to be as interested in us as we were in them!

Kaitaia’s main industries are forestry and tourism. We have seen huge logging trucks rumbling by and the town has a rural B.C. feel to it.

We settled into our tidy room with a bottle of NZ Pinot Noir and some snacks while planning our drive to Waipoua National Forest tomorrow.

Cheers!

Ounuwhao Harding House B & B

Russell
35°15′57″ S 174°7′41″ E

Blogging by Catherine – Wally is having a day off from blogging so I am filling in!

We are really enjoying our stay at this wonderful B&B just outside Russell on Matauwhi Bay. I thought it looked amazing when I booked it online and it’s so great when a place exceeds expectations.

The house was the home of one of the Harding brothers, a well-to-do family in the early 1900’s.It fell into disrepair and was eventually bought in 1990 by the Nicklin family.

The couple had the house dismantled, cut into four sections and transported 200 kms to this location.They spent almost 6,000 hours restoring the house, preserving original kauri wood floors, trim and fireplaces.

The current owners Liz and Gordon have been here for a year.Wally has been enjoying the boats. I have too but what has captivated me are the flowers. The roses are massive, there Bird of Paradise and alstroemerias in the front garden here. I’ve only seen them in shops at home!

And the birds! Haven’t seen a kiwi yet but have seen Fantail, Weka, Kingfisher, Tui, Gannet, California Quail, Red-billed Gull, Mallard and Sparrow.

This morning we headed into town to the Pompallier Mission. Our tour guide Julie gave us an enthusiastic and evocative tour of this rammed-earth building constructed in 1842 to house the Catholic Mission’s printing press.

Three men laboured here over seven years and produced a staggering 40,000 books all printed in the Maori language.

Julie took us through the entire printing and binding process and the tanning process for the leather covers for the books. Although a Catholic enterprise, most of the production was catechisms and small books, and not Bibles.

We were struck by how labour intensive and slow the process was and what degree of craftsmanship was involved in printing and binding the books and tanning the cow, goat and sheep hides.

Julie pointed out many common terms in the English language that come from the printing process: Upper and lower case, to make a good first impression, to be out of sorts were just a few but my favourite was – to keep something at bay – which comes from the custom of putting a bay leaf in between the pages of a book to keep insects away.

The gardens were lovely as well – foxglove, roses, poppies, nasturtiums. There was an orchard coming into blossom, a short trail through a forested area and beautiful flower beds.

It was a cold wet morning so after the tour we made our way back to the waterfront for a coffee. The skies cleared and we drove up to the Maiki or Flagstaff overlooking Russell.

This is where Maori chief Hone Heke chopped down the flagstaff four times in protest over the actions of the British. It was eventually replaced and hauled up the very steep hill by 400 Maori warriors as a sign of goodwill.

The hill has a 360 degree view that is simply stunning. It’s been remarkable to us that almost everyone we have met – taxi drivers, fellow travelers, shop owners – when finding out that we are only going to the North Island say things like – there is nothing to see up there, you can see the whole island in two days, you really should go to the South Island.

I was starting to feel like I’d made a mistake in planning our agenda, even though the tour books said don’t do too much, don’t try to see both islands in two weeks, etc.

It’s become an ongoing joke with us whenever we come across yet another jaw droppingly beautiful vista or fascinating historic site to say – yes, there really is nothing to see here! I guess everyone has their biases and I’m sure the South Island is gorgeous but this is amazing!

We had a light lunch back at the Duke of Marlborough, did a little shopping and bought some snacks to have for supper. It will be a quiet evening, which I’m sure is a complete surprise to everyone who knows us. (Photo below – the little bay across the road from our B&B).

Back in the car tomorrow to drive to the west coast and then further north. I think I can dispense with the paper bag but I’m still saying – stay left, stay left….

Bye for now!
Cath and Wally

November 11
Ounuwhao Harding House B & B
Russell
35°15′57″ S 174°7′41″ E

Catherine was up early again and enjoyed a walk along the waterfront boardwalk, spotting many unusual birds and a huge cruise ship anchored just off the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Good thing we did our tour there yesterday as tenders were ferrying cruise ship passengers there for the day!

We were sad to say goodbye to the beautiful BreakWater Motel but were looking forward to the next leg of our trip to Russell. We drove back to Opua and right on to the car ferry.

We got out of the car to enjoy the scenery and wondered why the locals stayed put inside their own cars. The ferry ride was less than 10 minutes so that was a pretty quick cruise for us!

It was a short drive to Russell in the pouring rain. We found a coffee shop on the waterfront and soon discovered that the cruise ship passengers were also in Russell for the day. After chatting with another customer in the coffee shop, we realized that the cruise ship was the Majestic Princess – the same one that we will be on in a few weeks!

Fortified by the cappuccinos and spending time warming up under the infra-red heaters in the coffee shop, we headed out onto the historic waterfront, lined with shops, restaurants and hotels.

Russell once had the infamous reputation as “the Hell Hole of the Pacific” so named by Charles Darwin who felt the place was full of the “very refuse of society” – sailors, whalers, traders, escaped convicts from Australia – all there for “rest and recreation” so you can imagine what that looked like.

The Christian missionaries were appalled and that prompted the British to set up police, courts and jails in the early 1800’s. Happily the only “Hell Hole” left in Russell today is a respectable little coffee shop on the main street.

We walked down to the Pompallier Mission to catch the noon tour to find the place closed for the day for private tours – you guessed it – the cruise ship passengers! Darn! Oh well, it will be open tomorrow.

We found a craft market open only for the day for – again – the cruise ship passengers and the general public so Catherine enjoyed supporting the local economy.

Beside the town hall was a small cenotaph surrounded by very wet chairs. We had just missed the Remembrance Day Service which had been relocated indoors due to the steady rain.

We paused for a few moments and I will leave my poppy there tomorrow – Cath’s has been lost somewhere between Vancouver and Auckland.

We continued our walk about town as the rain had decreased to a drizzle and came upon Christ Church – the oldest surviving church in New Zealand – built in 1835. Charles Darwin contributed financially to its construction.

The interior is very modest & simple but it had a welcoming feel about it.

Cath was particularly taken with the dozens of seat cushions that had been hand done in needlework with local images and motifs.

Exquisite work. We had seen similar cushions in Nantwich, England in 2016 at an Anglican church there.

We walked back to the waterfront and had a delicious seafood chowder at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel, which has been “refreshing Rascals and Reprobates since 1827.” I wonder what category we fit into?

It was time to find our B&B – the Onouwhao Harding House which is facing a little bay, just on the edge of town.

We were greeted at the door by the owner Liz with a kind smile, a warm handshake and a pot of hot tea. Cath has died and gone to heaven. The is probably one of the nicest places we have ever stayed! More on that later! (Photo below – the view from our bedroom window).

We took advantage of having a good wifi signal & a warm, comfy dry place to sit & spent the balance of the afternoon catching with the blog!

After a glass of NZ red and some snacks, its off to bed.

Cheers!

November 10
Waitangi Treaty Grounds
35°15′55″ S 174°4′55″ E

We awoke to overcast skies and mid-teens temperature. We had bought some fruit and granola for breakfast – mandarin oranges from Australia and large golden kiwis from New Zealand – very tasty! After breakfast in our suite overlooking the Bay of Islands, we took a 5 minute drive back to Opua.

The tall ships from Tuia 250 were docked at Opua wharf and they were an impressive sight!

They included a 105 foot replica of James Cook’s ship Endeavour from Australia;

The Spirit of New Zealand – 138 foot three masted ship from Auckland;

Haunui Waka – a double hulled Maori canoe from Auckland

and the 85 foot schooner R. Tucker Thompson from Opua.

We walked down to the end of the wharf to R. Tucker Thompson first and were greeted by a young woman from Victoria, British Columbia who has sailed extensively on the ship. It is a tourist boat in the winter and a youth sailing experience boat the rest of the year.

It wasn’t possible to get on the Maori waka and there was a big line-up at Spirit of New Zealand so we lined up to get aboard the Endeavour.

The replica was launched in 1993 and is constructed using traditional shipbuilding materials and methods where possible. The ship is just over 105 feet long with 28 sails on three masts and over 17km of rigging!

Under sail she has achieved 10 knots but averages only 4 knots so Santosha could outrun her if need be! Captain Cook would have been impressed!

It was a short visit but gave us plenty to think about – 90 men confined to a ship this size for months on end, with only the sun & stars in the sky to navigate by.

We couldn’t leave the harbour without a stroll by the 250 berth Opua Marina. Opua is the first port for overseas yachts arriving in New Zealand after crossing the Pacific so there were some magnificent boats, mostly sailboats, lots of catamarans, the stuff of dreams or winning the lottery!

After a full morning, we drove back to Paihia for a little rest and to get ready for the afternoon.

Catherine had pre-purchased tickets to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds for a guided tour, a cultural show and traditional hangi or dinner with another show in the evening. We were only 2 kms away from the historic site so it was an easy drive.

Waitangi is considered to be the birthplace of the country where the Maori chiefs and the British signed the first treaty that was supposed to protect the Maori and the resources of the country. But it didn’t turn out that way as there was a Maori version of the treaty and a British version and you can guess which version came out on top.

Here’s a link to the Waitangi website: https://www.waitangi.org.nz/

Check out the size of this Norfolk pine on the Treaty Grounds. Can you spot Catherine?

As with our own country, it’s a complicated relationship. There is much more credence given to Maori interpretation of history these days. The Maori have had a resurgence of their culture with the Maori language being declared an official language of New Zealand.

We were so impressed with the museum, the guided walk which included a stop at the 80 man waka (war canoe).

Check out the face carving on the bow of the boat (below).

We finished our tour at the carved meeting house for a cultural show with singing, dancing and traditional martial arts.

After the guided tour we went back to the museum again while we were waiting for the evening event – a Maori cultural show followed by a buffet dinner.

Our group was escorted to the cultural performance by a Maori guide. While we were walking through the jungle to the performance center we were met by 3 Maori warriors who first challenged the leaders of our group & then invited us to their meeting place. It was a very moving encounter.

It gave us a greater appreciation of what the first Europeans must have experienced.

The performers in the show were also amazing.

The dinner was delicious. Lamb & pork & chicken cooked in an earth oven & root vegetables.

This was a full day, so we would sleep well tonight!

Cheers!

Auckland Airport
37°0′17″ S 174°46′58″ E

We were up early to take the shuttle back to the airport to pick up our rental car. Catherine came prepared with some high tech apparel to help her manage her anxiety while I was driving on the “wrong” side of the road & she had no steering wheel.

This new kit limited her vision & allowed her to hyperventilate in comfort & without embarrassment.

With all equipment in place & our destination programmed into the GPS we headed off confidently & promptly took a wrong turn coming out of the car rental parking lot. Not a great start – we were on a dead end road that was off limits to the general public but were able to turn around & make our escape without any further stress.

Thankfully the rest of the 3 1/2 hour drive to Paihia went off without incident. Although once we were out of the greater Auckland area the route was over very hilly & winding roads.

We arrived in Paihia around 1:00 & were very pleased to see the beautiful setting that our motel (BreakWater Motel) was in. We had a really clean & comfortable housekeeping unit with a great view of the bay.

We had a brief rest & then went for a walk along the harbourfront commercial area. Shortly after we got back to our room we were lucky enough to spot the Fa’afaite, a Maori double-hulled sailing canoe pass through the harbour.

This boat was sailed from Tahiti by a Maori woman & crew with no modern navigation aids as part of the Tuia 250 Celebrations. It has joined a flotilla of tall ships that are currently circumnavigating New Zealand.

You can read more about Tuia 250 by following this link to the official website: https://mch.govt.nz/tuia250

We hope to catch up with the tall ships tomorrow.

Cheers!