New Zealand - Matamata to Paihia via Cape Reinga

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17th - 25th January 2008

New Zealand - Matamata to Paihia via Cape Reinga

We left Taupo for Matamata, home to one of the more famous filming sites for Lord of the rings. I wasn’t particularly interested but I knew my Nieces and Nephews were and so was only really visiting for them. On the way we bumped into four bikers of a similar age on a day out and so we exchanged a few stories over coffee and lunch. Later we found a ‘Kiwi’ campsite near the Lord of the Rings site and spent the night there. The site was also playing host to a large school rowing event which was taking place nearby. The children were noisy and boisterous but not offensive and were camping some distance from us so had no effect on our sleep.

After breakfast and packing we set off to get our tickets for the site, however we were astonished to find they were $NZ50 each :yikes . For what we understood to be there, not the original set, this was plainly a rip-off :spitfire and something we didn’t want to be part of, Nephews & Nieces aside. We were very disspointed.

We’d already decided at Taupo to take a flight in an old Bi-Plane at Tauranga and so we continued on to there. After finding Tourist Information, we found that there wasn’t any pilots available to fly the plane today, that they couldn’t fly the following day for some reason and weren’t prepared to take any bookings for the 3rd day. We didn’t like Tauranga enough to stay and wait and so resigned ourselves to the experience at another time and probably another place. So, after a meat pie and a coke :D at the side of the road, we took off again and headed for Wentworth Waterfall, a Department of conservation camp site.

We found a sheltered and secluded spot on the site and I popped into town to get some groceries whilst Sylvia established our habitational requirements. When I returned we sat outside, ready to enjoy our dinner away from everyone for a while, however the local mosquito’s hadn’t understood our requirements and so decided to pay us a visit. :rolleyes: :mad: It certainly wasn’t the worst Mosi’ experience we’ve had as there were about 10 or so that seem to come and go, however it did detract a little from our ability to relax. :tears

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At the Wentworth campsite.

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The Longest place name in the world ?

The following morning we were in a laid back mood and it took for ever to get us going, finally I think we left at around 12:00, 2 hours after the normal expulsion time. We head further along the coast towards the Corramandel, a peninsular on the East coast which is said to be very beautiful and secluded. We didn’t leave early enough to make the tip of the Corramandel today but still kept to our schedule of seeing ‘Hot water beach’(where you can dig a whole in the sand, let it be filled by the ’hot’ sea and take a bath.) :eek The weather though was a bit inclement for us to take a bath as the wind was blowing too hard for the luxury I‘d conjured in my mind and promised myself. We did however participate in some very nice Nachos in a local café :D which aided our spirit’s a little. We then headed onto Cooks beach, where I imagined his sighting and landing for a short while. :yikes - Nachos !!! :D Finally we arrive at an ok campsite at Whitianga, where, after a nice steak we’d cooked, we watched the second half of Private Ryan in the camp kitchen as the weather would allow, as every 5 or so minutes we could hear thunder in the distance which then subsequently knocked our reception off or out for about 3 minutes. Even though neither of us are great fans of the film, somehow we managed to grit it out ‘till the end before we retire to our tent.

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An artistic composure taken by Sylvia near Hot water beach.

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Scooter by Warner Bros.

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Cooks beach. The weather was helpful in creating a sense of what travelling in Cooks day would have looked like. :yikes

We get up a little earlier and head off finally towards our goal of Fletcher Bay on the tip of the Corromandel. The weather was not great which detracted from our view however we rode along the wettish dirt track and stuck to our plan. When we got to Fletcher bay we stopped for some lunch. The wind was quite strong and not conducive to relaxing outside so we opted to eat in a disused bunker. Not particularly charming but dry and wind free. After that and a recky of the beach I decided a beach ride was in order. I could see tractor tyre tread marks and the sand looked heavy enough to support one Adventure plus a full tank and full luggage and full me…you can see where this is going already can’t you. So, after selecting a suitable path :rolleyes: onto the sand I set off. Initially all is going well and Sylvia is filming the event on her little camera…..for about 10 seconds where the back wheel decides that vertical is preferable to horizontal travel and buries itself within about 2 seconds :rolleyes:-I then assist it further by my attempts to rev it out in a lower gear !! :rolleyes: Realising that the revving solution wasn’t going to work I opted for the ’take-off-all-the-luggage, drop-it-on-its-side, pack-something-under-the-back-wheel, right-the-bike, and ride/push it off the beach. I started doing that when a couple of chaps came to lend a hand. The younger man understood the need to try these things and smiled as he saw my predicament but the older man just kept blithering on about it was the wrong point to ride on the beach, and he really wouldn’t let it go. It got so bad I almost said to him that I could do with out his help. :spitfire We get the bike off the beach quite easily in the end by just pushing it. It took about 2 mins. I gave my thanks and Sylvia and I headed off to find another camping spot as the one here, which we’d originally planned to use, looked like most of the other occupants were permanent and I had that ‘we don’t take kindly to strangers round here’ feeling. :mmmm

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At the start of my ride on Fletchers bay.......

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....oh no Sylvia, I meant to park it like that.

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Yes, it does seem a bit wedged in doesn't it !!

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Yes, I did say 120.......then it went into a tank slapper after the Seal jumped out in front of me...I think he was buying it. :rolleyes:

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My helpers !

Further back down the coast we stop at Fantail bay which is more protected from the elements and seemed to have more of a holiday-touring feel to the ‘cliental‘. No sooner was the tent up that it started to rain. :rolleyes: We were grateful for this mercy and set about cooking dinner under the basic protection of a tree. The rest of the evening we spent in the tent watching a DVD on the laptop. ( I can’t say how pleased and grateful I was so many times for having the laptop with us.:thumb2)

It rained pretty much all night, backing off for an hour or so in the morning before we got up, before re-starting again...before we got up !!. :rolleyes: We’d wanted to spend a few days here enjoying the seclusion and beauty of the area, however the weather looked set to stay for a while and we couldn’t see the point of waiting in the tent for it to clear up, and even if we’d stayed to walk, the visibility was so poor as to not be worth while, so we cleared up, and off.

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Our damp camp spot at Fantail bay.... the shot was taken just before leaving.

Our next major landmark was to be Cape Reinga, the most accessible Northern point of the North Island of New Zealand. We headed off back down the same wettish (read: much wetter :yikes) track as yesterday whilst I gave myself a few frights just looking at the track surface, let alone the odd slip here and there.

Back on Terra Firma we ride as far as we can safely before needing a rest, finally stopping at a town called Thames would you believe ? which is just at the foot of the Corromandel region. We find a ‘Subway’ and have a healthy-ish lunch there and a coffee at a local café next door. Waterproofs back on we head off once again to get as far as we can.

We drive on a very busy motorway across Auckland which moves at a snails pace. Once the traffic is moving again we’re knackered and stop at a Motorway service station for a rest and a drink. We finally push on to Orewa on the Hibiscus Eastern coast around 150km North of Auckland. We check out the local ‘Top Ten’ campsite but are put off by their over-security-mindedness (they wouldn’t let us take a look at the site without registering with reception) and finally settle for a Back-Packers called ‘Pillows’. It gets its name from the fact that they supply you with…you’re way ahead again aren’t you…..just a bed and pillows. The price was very good and the clouds looked ready to open again. We change into our Civvies and head off into town to find a restaurant for dinner. We settle on an Indian in the end and enjoy some of the foods we’d enjoyed in India.

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A view of Auckland from the road. Neither of us were inspired to visit this city.

Whilst looking for somewhere to eat we’d found a significant statue of Sir Edmund Hilary in town. It had been erected as he was well loved and remembered here as he’d spent so many of his childhood years Holidaying in a local ’Bach’, which is a type of holiday home. It was now adorned with flowers and various tributes as he’d only recently died and was awaiting his funeral.

We got a reasonable sleep, had a shower, took some breakfast and had a nice chat with the owner before leaving. We set off, took some Photos of Sir Edmund’s statue where I punched myself right in the eye with a sharp part of my camera, spent 10 mins in agony whilst Sylvia poured some of her eye drops in to try and sterilize it. It HURT !!! :blast :eek: :blast

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Sir Edmund Hilary.

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One mourners farewell card at the foot of his statue.


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And some of Press reports detailing the many tributes given to him at his funeral.

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We saw quite a lot of Kite surfing around New Zealand, looked like a good sport if your back is in good shape.

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The Seagulls would take a 'full' clam shell, fly up to around 20 or so metres, drop the shell and then eat the clam from the now opened shell - sometimed it took a few drops for the shell to open. Seen on Orewa beach along with the kite surfing.

We get going and the rain decides to join us. My wetsuit continues to be wet (inside & out) and it becomes a-lets-just-get-there type day. We decide that a good stopping point is Bayleys beach and set up camp there. The weather changes and we are able to enjoy the sun for a while and Sylvia manages to get some washing done. We meet a few other travellers and share a few stories before eating dinner at a local (& very slow) fish restaurant called the ‘Funky Fish’. We return to the camp site and watch the later part of a tribute documentary to Sir Edmund Hilary‘s life. The New Zealand men love him and look up to him as a true Man’s man, and as I too considered the works of his life, wish I might achieve 5% of what he did. (The woman also lovedhis sense of Adventure, being still a family man with determination and great humour)

The next day we set off again and yet again the rain joins us. :rolleyes:

Sylvia is keen to view the largest known Kauri trees in the world so we stop in the Waipoua Forest to take a glimpse. The rain is now pouring and so we walk round with our helmets and wet-suits on whilst the other onlookers look bemused. We don’t care, do our oohs & ahhs, take our photos and get going again.

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These Kauri trees are known as the 3 Sisters, and whilst not The largest, these photos give yo some idea of their size.

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We’d struggled a bit as to the best way North as we had a choice of a long road or the risk of unknown ferry times. In the end I decided that the ferry was worth the risk, and it was. We got on at Rawene and disembarked at Kohukohu on the northern side after about 15-20 mins.

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Sylvia on the ferry.

We’d originally set our hearts on camping in the Cape Reinga area but time was pushing on so we decided to stop at a ’Top ten’ campsite at Kaitaia for the night which is just below the base of the final land mass in Northern New Zealand. We have a pleasant evening, enjoy some long over-due showers and go to bed with a view to leaving the following morning for Cape Reinga as planned. In assessing the tide times so that we could ride on 90 mile beach, I got a very abrupt response from the lady in our campsite reception who barked at me how dangerous it was to ride on the beach, which was not necessary or helpful as all modes of transport use it all the time. Her 'beef' turned out to be that people were sick of having to pull other vehicles off the beach.

In the morning though, I had a different idea whilst we were dismantling the tent, which was to leave us pitched where we were and to do a return trip to Cape Reinga in a day. That way we would save ourselves about 2-3 hours of packing & re-packing, around the time needed to ride one-way to the Cape. Sylvia agreed so we got some lunch & water together and set off.

Our revised riding plan was to now ride up on the road and return via 90 mile beach.

We arrived at the Cape and took a shortish walk down to its end where a lighthouse is stationed and any number of photographers snapping away at their Family & friends. It has a Lands End feel to the place which I guess is not surprising. After surveying the scenery, which was similar to Lands End, perhaps not surprisingly, we looked at the entrance to 90 mile beach for the return trip but Sylvia was understandably anxious about her broken arm and the effects of salt on the bike. :yikes After re-consideration I decided that we’d have to leave this adventure as the stakes were too high. :(

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Cape Reinga, perhaps unsurprsingly similar to Lands End.

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...I know, I know :rolleyes:, the sign needs mending. :rolleyes:

The ride back was quite pleasant, we managed to find somewhere to buy some beer near us and returned to the site for our evening. On returning though we met an elderly Swiss man travelling on his own and he seemed a bit lost without company. We’d actually already seen him at a café near Cape Reigna. I suggested to Sylvia that we might invite him to join us for dinner to which she readily agreed, as did he when I made the invitation. He enjoyed being able to talk to Sylvia in German and the evening passed well. He thanked us for our hospitality and as he departed to bed, we sped to the TV lounge for half an hour or so’s anything within reason !! :D

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Something that New Zealand is not short of. Incidentially, farmers children are given lambs as pets which they name and look after for a while............until :yikes

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This cheeky begger though knew no limits and behaved more like a scrounging dog !

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In the morning we left Kaitaia and headed to Keri-Keri which looked like it would be a good spot to stop at to organise diving and other activities. As it turned out, after a visit to Tourist Information, most of the activities for this part of the coast are in Paihia, so after a nice Israeli lunch:D(as you do !) we set off again for Paihia. We found a campsite just outside of town and set up camp there.

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Grasshopper...you must move to Paihia if you want to dive. Man who try diving in Keri-Keri gets bloody nose and headache !! :nod

Mike.
 


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