Not all campsites are made equal, and some are a surprise in the worst of ways. Let me tell you about Sheep world caravan park that sits just 5km outside of Warkworth. It promised so much with the luxury of en-suite camping spots advertised but the reality was a bit of a let down. The plots were packed in and the attempt to provide some privacy led to dark, claustrophobic, foliage choked plots without a view... except of our opposite neighbours, them we could see clearly. On the upside there was a toilet within three meters, score! There was nothing intrinsically wrong with it, we have stayed in worse places and there was some beauty to be found here, but for $60 a night I was expecting something special and with the name I was kind of expecting sheep. We hadn’t quite realised that Sheep world itself was a completely different business that just happened to be next to the caravan park, or that we’d have to pay to get in… not that we really wanted to go to sheep world but it’s the principal of the thing.
The one upside to where we stopped is that it is near Warkworth, a small popular tourist town that had plenty of Op shops (charity shops) for us to explore. Most of what we found was fairly expensive for second hand items but in one shop down by the museum we managed to find a beautiful vintage Winner woollen blanket for only $25. It’s so lovely that we’re seriously considering sending it home when we leave NZ, plus the only other blanket from this brand I’ve found online was selling for $140 I think we got a right bargain. The rest of the town was nice enough, with cafes and a river to wander along but we were happy enough to leave after a few hours.
After a delightfully warm nights sleep (finally), we headed off to Waipu Caves. Signposts from highway 1 led us to a gravel track that meandered its way past rural homesteads, up and down gently rolling hills, before finally coming alongside the carpark for the caves. It’s a short walk to the caves and after a slippy clamber down we were inside, although the large limestone stalactites and stalagmites scattered around the cave were impressive, we needed to head further inside for the real reason we came here. Once we splashed our way along the water covered cave floor and around the corner away from any natural light it was time to turn off the flashlights and look up. Scattered across the ceiling, casting a soft light to rival the stars in the sky were hundreds of glow worms. After ruling out exploring the rest of the caves, as I wasn’t convinced of our spelunking abilities; we turned our torch back on and made our way back through the cave and outside.
We were rather muddier than when we entered and instead of heading back to the van to wash up we decided to explore the woodland tracks over the caves instead. All tracks led through the trees and up the hill, but before too long we noticed the tracks up the hillside were getting slipperier - we still hadn’t had a whole day without rain for a while - so we finally gave up and headed back. We spent the rest of the day relaxing, as the waipu cave carpark itself was a freedom camping spot we decided it was nice enough that we’d stay the night.
Bright and early the next day we continued our journey ever northwards this time hitting up the town of Whangarei. Our first stop was the impressive 26 meter high Whangarei falls, a curtain waterfall that draws tourists in all clamouring to see its cascades. I don’t know why, but following a laid concrete path to a natural wonder robs some of the magic of it for me. Yes, the two viewing platforms and the bridge that spans the river so we could get to the bottom of the waterfall were very convenient but it came at the expense of my sense of adventure. Don’t get me wrong it was beautiful, but it didn’t feel like we’d earned it. Still, we spent some time here, taking photos and wandering about before we headed off to our next stop.
The Quarry gardens in Whangarei is just what it sounds like, an old quarry that has been painstakingly transformed into a place of beauty rather than one of ruin. There were several walking tracks we could have followed, the one we decided upon was scattered with the concrete “ruins” from it’s former quarry days. Towering concrete infrastructure now slowly being reclaimed by nature. As the entry price was free I certainly couldn’t complain, but as we were able we left a donation. That evening we headed off to out final camp spot before we started work, Parua Bay. The view was stunning, straight across the crystal clear bay filled with gently bobbing yachts and to the mountains beyond.
It poured down for most of the hour and a half drive to our new workplace, for all we know it could have been the most stunning drive in NZ although I’d doubt that as our final destination didn’t scream beauty. Dargaville, the nearest town to where we would spend the next few weeks wasn’t inspiring. It had typical one story colonial New Zealand architecture, and the high street was filled with shops that sell tat at bargain prices; you can clearly see why it doesn’t make its way onto any “destinations you must visit” lists. For all that it served it’s purposes when we needed it, there was a few laundrettes to choose from and the supermarket had a fairy broad vegetarian section considering it’s rural location plus, we were staying another 20 minutes down the road.
I won’t give you a blow by blow of what working on a kumara farm was like. I can’t even give you a honest account of what working on a kumara farm is usually like either as we had turned up amidst the worst planting season for ten years. Suffice to say when we were working there it was hard, the wet ground didn’t want us to push our way through, giving us bruised hands and aching arms. The rest of the work was fine, the cutting and sorting - it was dull but hardly strenuous. In a way we were lucky that we were given work when the weather was bad, Ben in constructing a barn and me in dismantling a shed but even so it was more than we bargained for considering what we were being paid. After two weeks we headed off again, wishing our brief boss best wishes and giving the dogs a final pat. It wasn’t just the work really but the location too - we were in the middle of nowhere with the most interesting place to visit a nearby beach … that we visited in the first week.
So sweet potato farming wasn’t for us but we earned a little money, enough to head back on the road for a while at least.
Trip date: Nov/Dec 2022
Next blog: As north as north can be.
The blanket sounds wonderful - bring it home!