38°21′27″ S 176°22′9″ E
Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Area

This morning we took a short walk to see the avocado orchard owned by our hosts at the Purple Hen B&B.

Avocado trees looked nothing like we expected!

Then we traveled south to Napier with a stop along the way to see the geothermal pools at Wai-O-Tapu which is just past Rotorua.

This geological feature is amazing & is well developed to accommodate large numbers of tourists. It was the first time that we felt a bit crowded here in New Zealand. That said, the crowds did not interfere with us having a good experience & being able to see almost everything we had hoped to see.

There is a geyser that erupts every day around 10:00 in the morning but unfortunately we were about 45 minutes too late for that. However there was still lots of other sights here to see.

There were numerous deep sulfur craters with bubbling mud at the bottom & others filled with steaming hot water.

There were no places to soak as all of them were far too hot – some well over 100 C!

Depending upon which way the wind was blowing the smell of sulphur was quite strong – almost enough to gag you!

We left the hot pools and continued south to Napier, about a 2 hour drive through rolling hills and winding roads.

We checked into our B&B – 119 on Georges – and were greeted by our genial hosts Wendy and Peter.

After a brief rest we drove to the downtown area, had a late lunch/early supper at a sidewalk cafe, then headed back to our cozy room.

More adventures in Napier tomorrow.

Cheers!

36.3712° S, 174.6299° E
Sheepworld, Warkworth, NZ

This morning we headed south on State Highway 1 towards Auckland. We arrived at Sheepworld after an hour and a half for the 11:00 am show of sheep dogs and sheep shearing.

The setting is laid out like a small farm with pens of different kinds of sheep, cows, donkeys, pigs, alpacas and emus. We bought some bags of food and enjoyed feeding the animals. The emus were very keen to meet us & have a snack! They reminded us of some of the creatures in Jurassic Park!

Our host & guide, John, took to the small stage introduced us to the dogs – Boy, Mac and Muz.

Boy and Mac are New Zealand Heading dogs that he called “Eye Dogs” for their ability to maintain eye contact with him and not barking. They are descended from Border Collies whose long hair was not suited to the heat. Muz is a Huntaway Dog bred for their loud, deep bark to help with herding. John put them through their paces.

Boy was off like a shot over the fence and up a hill to herd a flock of about 20 sheep down to the paddock.

It was great to watch Boy respond on cue to the calls and whistles of John. Mac, only 7 months old, already knows his rights and lefts and how to work in a circle with John.

Muz barked on command and did his duty without the natural herding instinct of the other dogs.

We went back inside and John did a great job explaining the sheep farming industry in New Zealand and then demonstrated how sheep shearing is done. Very physical labour!

Shearers are expected to shear a minimum of 300 sheep a day and world record holders can do more than 700! At $2.15 per sheep!

Muz’s work was done so he settled in for a rest on a fresh wool rug!

We left the rural setting of the sheep paddock and continued on our way through the very urban environment of downtown Auckland, with construction and volume slowdowns. It was quite a contrast but not too difficult.

Our destination was the small town of Katikati on the east coast. We had hoped for a farm stay on our trip and this was pretty close – the Purple Hen Guest House with an avocado orchard!

We found an Indian restaurant in town and enjoyed a tasty dinner before retiring to our room at the guest house.

Not a baaaad day!

Tane Mahuta – New Zealand’s Oldest Living Tree

35.6009° S, 173.5272° E

There was a terrific thunderstorm in the early morning so we waited until the rain stopped before heading out. We just made the 11:00 ferry across Hokianga Harbour, a 15 minute trip.

We landed in Rawene, a picturesque town and had a coffee at No. 1 Parnell cafe in a former grocery store.

It was a short winding road along Hokianga Harbour on the way to Waipoua National Forest with some stellar views.

Once in the forest, we made our way to see Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest, the largest living kauri tree in New Zealand, estimated to be more than 2,000 years old. He is more than 50 feet in diameter!

The forest preserves other examples of these magnificent trees, which are under threat from kauri dieback disease. Visitors are not supposed to go off the board walks and have to clean their shoes before and after visiting the trees. Several trails have recently been closed to try and control the disease.

We drove for another 2 hours along the long and winding road to Whangarei

We are staying for the night at Lupton Lodge, a historic inn just outside of the city.

Tomorrow we go to Sheepworld! The guidebook says that the sheepdog demonstration is not too baaaaad!

Cheers!

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