To the top without a stop

Despite working for two weeks and spring officially turning to summer, Northland, New Zealand hadn’t got the memo and it was once again raining. Having no ability to do anything about this we just had to make the most of it, although looking back we could have decided on a better location considering this.

Lake Taharoa was lovely, a remote lake surrounded by pine trees, but a campsite with minimal facilities along its shores perhaps wasn’t the best place to while away the bad weather. I can see why the lake would be a great place to visit when the weathers good, but when it was too chilly to even swim it seemed quite a long detour for little reward.

Oh well, it was only for one night and there's much worse places to be.

Our journey along the west coast took us through the Waipoua Kauri forest which was such a beautiful drive. You might envision vast panoramas over mountainous terrain and tree lined valleys, this was in fact the opposite. Walls of moss covered trees bracket the uneven windy roads, their leaves overhanging letting the sunlight filter through, giant ferns pushing their way through the undergrowth towards that light, it felt prehistoric as if any moment a dinosaur would push its way through and onto the road.

Part way through the Kauri forest sits the biggest kauri tree in New Zealand, Tane Mahuta - the lord of the forest. Tane Mahuta is said to be over 2000 years old and although we only stopped on a whim it was genuinely impressive, though you’d be allowed to doubt this as our cameras had trouble really putting the tree into perspective. It is named for the Maori god Tane who presides over the forests and perhaps this is what has protected it from kauri dieback; an incurable disease that has endangered kauri trees all over New Zealand. Once you could walk right up to this giant but now a walkway combined with a shoe washing station has been put in to help prevent visitors from bring the disease and killing this elderly tree or any of its younger siblings. There is something special about seeing such an ancient being. I have a fondness for old trees, thinking about what the world was like when they first sprouted from seed and what changes have happened since.

Along the Hokianga estuary and far away from the main road sits the roadside attraction of Koutu boulders, our next stop. A collection of large round boulders formed many years ago that have broken free from their surrounding rock and now rest in the river. To be completely honest, I’m not sure we travelled far enough down the river to find the impressive boulders that I’d seen on pictures. Those boulders would towered over me and the ones that we’d found were hip height at most. As we were wading through the estuary, trousers rolled up to comical heights to find the boulders, the weather started to turn and we though it might not be the most practical place to weather a storm so we ended our search and left. I wouldn’t recommend the spot for the boulders itself but the amusement found in searching for them was worth the visit.

After so much exploring we needed somewhere to stay and that somewhere was in the town of Rawene, a town that’s on the map due to its Car ferry that crosses to Rangiora. The town was cute, Gallery Cafes and an abundance of wooden slatted churches that line its main street. Just away from the informal ferry crossing was the promenade along the waters edge, complete with rickety piers from which we could peer into the sea. We spent a good hour wandering around taking photos before getting some chips from the local fish and chip shop. The campsite was strange with a cold reception and our pitch for the night a spot in a crowded carpark - what it did have going for it were the views, they were absolutely stunning.

We could have hopped on the ferry on our journey north and saved ourselves an hours driving, but $40 seemed steep and with no rush to be anywhere we chose to drive instead. This logic seemed to fly out the window when we decided our next destination would be Cape Reinga, a good 5 hour journey away and the furthest point north we could get. We did stop along the way, first to get provisions, and then alongside the stunning Houhora Harbour for a spot of lunch in the sun. Looking at the map I honestly didn’t think it would take as long as it did but I was forgetting about New Zealands infamous roads, if they’re not winding round a mountain they’re filled with pot holes and are literally slipping away.

We drove straight to the campsite, set 3km from the road down a twisty gravel track. It set us back $30 for the night but as one of only two campsites in the area we didn’t have much of a choice. It was basic, with drop toilets and cold showers, but after we chose our spot, our boot to looking over the bay with the mountains proud behind us it didn’t matter, it was beautiful. The cove’s waters were a bit too rough for swimming, we had a paddle anyway just to say that we’d entered the waters at New Zealands northern tip. Our main swimming was done in the nearby lagoon, which was only accessible during high tide; it was frigid and shallow but the sun was shining for once so it was perfect to cool down in. The hills that surrounded the cove were perfect for hiking, so up we trundled, soon realising we weren’t quite a fit as we previously thought. We huffed and puffed our way up, determined to reach the top for the perfect viewpoint before heading our way back down to the van again.

In the evening of our second day here we headed off to Cape Reinga lighthouse, the most northern part of New Zealand, where we watched the two sea’s meet, crashing into each other with violent force. It was special, standing there looking over the utter vastness of the ocean. I don't understand why it would feel any different to standing on any other precipice looking at the sea beyond but it really did. It was the sort of place where hushed voices are the norm as if a word spoken to loud would shatter the feelings it invoked. We stood there for five minutes, soaking it in, knowing that we'd probably never return to this spot again.

On our way back south we stopped by the giant sand dunes that sit at the north end of the famous 90 mile beach. We didn’t surf down them, not having a body board to throw ourselves onto, and slightly because I’m a wuss but we did climb up one. Well, Ben climbed up one, I got part way before an irrational fear of falling kicked in and my muscles froze up. Next time, I vowed to myself, I would climb all the way up, knowing my chances of coming across another 100m high sand dune were slim.

Trip date: Dec 2022 Next blog : back to Waikato