Bay of Islands and beyond

As summer continued on (I had a really good pun to use here that Ben vetoed) so did the rain and where else to go on a rainy day but the beach. Tokerau Beach was the wildest free camping spot that we found in our travels around the northland. We could park anywhere we were able to get to after traversing a rutted and worn dirt track bordered by soft sand. No car parking spaces, no organised plots, just us trying to find somewhere flat-ish that I trusted I would be able to get out of again.

The main problem with this free camp was the toilets, they were about 800m away, a distance that didn't seem far until night fell. The sky was pitch black not a star in sight when Ben and I made the trek to the loo’s, only a single flashlight to pin point our way. After completing our business, we left the toilet block turned to the right and screamed in the face of an old Maori man who decided to pop up and join in on our blathering conversation. “Nice night” he said as if he hadn’t just scared the shit out of us, we obviously agreed before heading on our way, when we turned around a minute later he’d melted back into the trees, probably waiting for some more tourists to ambush.

Deciding that one nighttime scare was plenty the next morning we headed along the east coast as we made our way to Waitangi, the first place in New Zealand to sign a treaty with the British. The campsite we visited was across from the treaty grounds themselves, and as historically interesting as this is the real reason we’d visited was the stunning seascape it promised. A place called the Bay of Islands had a lot to live up too and it didn’t disappoint, the bay was dotted with beautiful if not inaccessible islands all surrounded by beautifully clear turquoise sea.

The one place we could easily travel to was Russell, a town on the opposite peninsular that was a handy 20 minute ferry ride away for less than $20 each. Russel had an interesting vibe, bordering on tourist town without over doing it. I can see why it was popular, beach front restaurants, cute wooden slatted heritage houses, history, what’s not to like. Before we explored the town itself we decided to go on a little hike to a nearby viewpoint, we quickly completed that hike and realised it wasn’t all that challenging so we decided to plot a new route, this time aiming a lot further. Our end point was Tapeka view point and although the route there was mainly following road the last ten minutes more than made up for it. Dolphins, just there, playing the in sea, leaping and splashing, racing around, seeming to follow us round the last clamber up and round the tiny peak despite the fact we were high up on the hills. The view itself was stunning but the dolphins made it something special.

Our trek back was through the woods, a much more pleasant experience and it was there than we had our second animal experience of the day. Wekas are small chicken like birds that have somehow evolved without the inherent feeling a stranger danger, they are also pretty cute and apparently thieves although I can’t confirm this. As we were walking along, enjoying the shade we heard a strange noise, almost as if a small pig had caught a cold, a snuffling honk if you will. “What could it be?” We wondered - happy in the knowledge that new Zealand doesn’t really do predators so we were pretty safe. There was a rustling in the underbrush and then he emerged, confident as could be, striding up to us. Maybe he was the distraction so we wouldn’t see the rest of the wekas, happily snuffle honking their way about the woods around us, but if they were truly hiding they were doing a terrible job with all the noise they were making.

When we had finally ambled our way back to Russell, via the flagstaff above the hill, we felt that we were more than deserving of a meal out. Ben went with oysters to begin with, followed by a rustic fish chowder and I started with scallops and had flounder for my main. The fish chowder was definitely a high point for me but the rest was a bit disappointing really. The orange sauce that came with the flounder just didn’t work and the scallops sat on the rubbery side of overcooked. Maybe we just put too much pressure on the meal to be perfect as it was the only time we were planning on treating ourselves for a while. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent wandering around the town, learning its history, before it was time to jump on the boat and head back across the bay. My favourite bit of history we learned that day concerned Ngāpuhi Chief Hōne Heke Pōkai, the first Māori to sign to the treaty of Whitangi. Despite initially supporting the British, Chief Hõne Heke quickly became disillusioned with colonialism and showed his displeasure by chopping down the flagstaff that flew over Russel, not once but three times. When the flagpole was erected for the fourth time it came with a military guard, to Chief Heke this was nothing but a new challenge and after joining forces with Chief Kawiti the flagpole was once again felled and this started the northern war of 1845. Exploration done it was time to head off to our next destination Leigh, or more specifically goat island reserve It was here that my expectations kind of messed up our plans. From the beach opposite goat island clear bottom kayaks can be hired so that people can kayak around seeing all the diverse marine life that makes goat island such a special place, or so I assumed. I thought that there would be a stand nearby the beach that you could hire these kayaks from as I didn’t want to preorder online. The weather was swinging from sunshine to storms and stormy kayaking just wasn’t something I wanted to have a go at and I didn’t want to have to deal with the hassle of getting a refund. When we arrived there, there wasn’t a stand or anyone floating around in clear kayaks either. Lesson learned, if I wanted to do something I’d better arrange it in advance. We still enjoyed ourselves, wandering over boulders and peering into rock pools, walking around the beach and up a nearby hill to get stunning views over goat island itself.

Although we made the most of it, our trip to Leigh ended up feeling like we wasted out time, we didn’t achieve what we set out to and the campsite we stayed at was fairly expensive on top of it. Luckily our next stop, a football club in the middle of nowhere village of Onewhero was free and came with stunning countryside views. It was strangely popular for a site without nearby attractions but I guess other people were using it to break up the journey just like we were.

We left fairly early so we could arrive to the start of the Nikau walk well before midday. There were many trails that we could have chosen from but the short three hour one seemed like the best fit for us. Leaving the carpark we followed a winding stream through rolling farmland before venturing into the depths of Pirongia forrest. We made our way through the trees working our way to Kaniwhaniwha cave, a thirty meter long squeeze through a damp narrow fissure in the earth that culminates in a ladder sat in a puddle. I honestly felt like I’d find the cave adventuring more daunting, but with our phones to light the way we made our way through with no issues apart from a little muckiness from the slick limestone walls. The rest of our hike went smoothly and we arrived at the van just in time for the rain to start bucketing down. Perfecting timing and a good excuse for a cup of tea before we headed off.

Eventually we had to leave even though the rain continued, we had many miles to go before we arrived at our next destination and most of them were destined to be viewed through a curtain of water that blocked all the scenery. Typically, the sun came out just as we arrived at the Oparu Roadhouse our home for the night. Initially we had planned to visit the nearby hot water beach the next morning but with how changeable the weather had been we thought we should jump on the chance we were presented. After registering our van with the roadhouse and guaranteeing our spot for the night, we asked very nicely to borrow a shovel, jumped back into the van and sped down the twisting road to Kawhia beach.

Evidently Kawhia beach must have missed the bad weather as there was several people already there, sat in their homemade hot water pools, relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. Off we headed down the beach, kicking up sand with our toes trying to find our own hot water spring and failing, time and time again we thought we’d found a spot before digging down a foot and finding only cold sand. Not to be discouraged we kept at it, finally finding the perfect place, frantically we dug, quickly trying to make a hole before the sand slid back down to fill it in again. After a while, we found a rhythm and technique, the sand walls were holding and the water inside our pool was warmish but then, tragedy struck, out of nowhere, the sea came along and washed all our progress away. Bugger. Luckily, some of the other pools had been vacated and their builders were smart enough to build them further away from the tide, was it cheating? Maybe, but who cares it was relaxing and warm all the same.

Next blog - Volcano country

Trip date - December 2022

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