Road Trippin'

Here in New Z’lund they really love having bank holidays for no particular reason other than its been a few weeks since the last one… so when we discovered that Labour Day weekend was coming up we thought it was the perfect opportunity for our eagerly awaited flat road trip (also known as ‘The Hoary Road Trip to Hicksville’ or ‘The Shelly Beach Roadie to the Far North of Nowhere’). Snubbing our noses at the nay-sayers who proclaimed that it always rains over Labour Day, we decided to pack the car up and head up north to the very ends of the earth (well the end of New Zealand anyway) and enjoy the sights along the way. Full marks went out to the two Jess’s for the amazing organization and mission that was involved in packing the car with 5 people, lots of luggage, sleeping bags, camping gear, food, 3 bikes, numerous pillows and a mink rug, so that we could set off for Dargaville on Thursday night. After several stops before we even got out of Auckland (where an attempt by Jess and Jess to bat their eyelashes at the boys in the bike shop resulted in a solid half hour of chat but ultimately left them with an allan key that didn't fit - I think you distracted him girls!) and lots of driving down deserted country roads, we finally found our first destination for the night - the Top 10 in Dargaville (except it was 30km outside the town).

How did we fit all that stuff in?

Getting there too late to join the night guided kiwi hunting tours, we sustained ourselves with a hearty breakfast the following morning and found the next best thing - a kiwi sign!!

Jessamy cooks up an amazing breakfast...

Whilst some of us rediscover our inner child!

Ready for the advernture to begin!

Yay! The Kiwi sign - thank goodness we didn't have to turn back to find the ones seen in the dark!

Poor Jessamy's car was rather abused...

The first leg of our trip took us up the West Coast on the Twin Cost Discovery Highway, deep into Kauri country. Kauri trees (or Agathis australis) are relatives of the monkey puzzle tree and some of the oldest trees in the world, apparently first appearing in the Jurassic period, and you really do expect when you are in the forests that any minute now you will see a raptor or stegosaurus poke its head out from the foliage! Two prime examples of Kauri trees are Tane Mahuta (Lord of the Forest) and Te Matua Ngahere (The Father of the Forest). The legend surrounding Tane Mahuta goes something like this... Tāne is the son of Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother. Tāne was the child that tore himself from his parents and once done set about clothing his mother in the forest we have today. All living creatures of the forest are regarded as Tāne’s children. Tane Mahuta is the largest kauri known to stand today and the most famous tree in New Zealand (apart from the one that got cut down on One Tree Hill!) and is 51.2m high with a girth of 13.77m, so pretty big!

Tane Mahuta

Isn't it big??!

Te Matua

They were impressive, although after having seen the giant tingle trees and Karri trees in Western Australia, I did feel a slight sense of disappointment; however it was pointed out that huge amounts of the forests had been decimated by the British loggers back in the 19th century, so there is only a fraction left to see!

MZ finds a tree to live in

After the forests we took the road cross country to the West Coast and the Bay of Islands. After a fresh fruit frozen yoghurt sitting by the water at whilst MZ and I reminisced about having a very large row about lost cameras, falling off horses and owing each other money back when we were last here with Luke and Carey, we headed for another cultural highlight of the day – Waitangi, whilst enjoying some beautiful views along the way...

Waitangi played a very important part in New Zealand’s history as it was here that William Hobson and James Busby came ashore and signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the Maori tribes on February 6th 1840, granting them the rights of British citizens, and considered the founding document of New Zealand as a nation. However there is still a lot of controversy around it as apparently the British and Maori translations are said to differ in meaning and its used to back up a lot of disputes regarding land ownership / coastal ownership etc (at least so I've been told). it does give the country an excuse to have another public holiday (incidentally the day we come back to England next year!) and gave us an excuse for some photo ops and a session convincing the lady that although we had British accents and no NZ driver's licences we were residents and therefore should get in free (apparently my Auckland city library card and westpac bank card was not quite enough!)

Jess and I demonstrate how big a kauri actually is...

I think it would take us a long time to get back to the islands using this!

Carvings in Waitangi

A very ornate boat shed!

The spot where the treaty was signed...

From Waitangi we drove to our campground at the lovely Taupo Bay, set up the tent, had a much needed cold beer and went for 'fush and chups' at the world famous Mangonui fish and chip shop and watched the sun go down...

Fish and chips becomes evil!

MZ and Nat prepare do their best slug impressions!

The morning came with another gorgeous sunny day and clear blue skies so we packed up and drove up the coast to the wonderfully named Houhora to set the tent up again, unload the car and find the giant sand dunes of Te Paki. Weirdly, these sand dunes seem to just appear out of no where, surrounded by rolling green fields and the sea quite far in the distance. They have been pushed inland by the prevailing winds that blow off the Tasman Sea on the West Coast. Apart from admiring their sheer size, they also give you the opportunity to hire an extortionately priced boogie board from the family monopoly at their base and try sliding down them on it! The real mission is getting to the top of the things, and as they really are VERY steep and high and I wasn't hugely enamoured of the idea of hurling myself down them face first (where were the safety signs??! and who wants sand EVERYWHERE??!) I volunteered to be official camera woman and let the others go first!! Eventually though i plucked up the courage to try one of the smaller ones, although this was after MZ had managed to be the only person to spectacularly crash and roll off!!

It was a very steep hill!

Smile for the camera girls

From Te Paki we carried off on our epic adventure to get all the way to the top of New Zealand - Cape Reinga!! The name comes from the Maori world for underworld and they believe that the cape is the place where the spirits of the dead jump off into the underworld. what it does do is mark the meeting place of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean and is the most northerly point of NZ (we have the sign to prove it!) It also has a lighthouse to pose by.... We're hoping that in the summer we might find the time to make a detour to Bluff in the South Island so that we really will have travelled from tip to tip.

You can see a faint line where the oceans meet


The road to Cape Reinga


A long way from home...

Another completely natural shot!

We'd been hoping to have dinner at James' recommendation of the Houhora sailing club's fish restaurant but after sending Natalie out to do a reccy and find out whether or not it was open (complete with her indignation at our expressions of doubt when she said it was and we replied - but were there actually PEOPLE there!) we took one look at the pitiful buffet and dead atmosphere and carried on. I'm not sure that our replacement dinner venue - the Houhora Tavern - was really any better as we were the only ones in there, and Rusty behind the bar was serving wine from a wine box, but by that point we were ready to eat anything (as long as it was a combination of burger fillings approved by Rusty!!)

Thats why the post is so slow...



A pretty setting for a not so pretty bar...

Much more enjoyable was our little candlelit snack fest back at the tent, far away from the dubious group of German backpackers and their suspiciously sweet smelling 'cigarettes'...

Not a fire hazard at all...
A new day bought with it further sunshine, so after a morning constitutional to Henderson Bay (some walking, some biking) and breakfast we headed back down the coast to our last destination, Leigh.

Spot the people in the undergrowth at Henderson Bay

We made a little stop at 90 Mile Beach for some piggy back racing whilst we marvelled at the fact that Colin and his family had once walked the ENTIRE length of it. Why you ask? BECAUSE THEY COULD. Personally the thought of not only walking that distance but walking that distance whilst carrying camping gear and with an unchanging view of beach and sea fills me with horror... I'm so glad our family holidays were gites in France!

Who will win?

There was also a welcome stop for lunch by a random river in Puketi forest, and being the intrepid team we were, pulled out the camping stove, cooked up some bacon and eggs, and made delicious sandwiches! Some of the girls even went all the way into the very cold river!

Natalie attacks another meal...

Losing feeling in the feet due to very cold water...

Arriving in Leigh, we had finally taken pity on Colin and allowed him to join us for dinner, as he was pining after 3 days without MZ! The Sawmill Cafe in Leigh is a great venue, with some very eccentric staff (I’m still not sure if our waiter was drunk or not), great food, and lovely cocktails! It was a lovely evening to set us up for a relaxing day at the beach at Pakiri, where it was so hot even MZ bailed on the sun at midday, and so we went instead and had another lovely picnic in the lime pools by the old cement works in Warkworth....


Nat tries to drink without liquid touching her teeth!

It was just lemonade...honest!


Boys on the beach!

Lunch at the Cement Works
It was an amazing weekend and a road trip to remember... luckily we even have driving videos to do that by! Thanks for being great flatmates Shelly Beach!!

Sums up the view for most of the weekend...