Rubin Trek: And it just keeps getting better...

O.K., Blog Readers, be prepared. This one will be long with lots of pictures. After all, this was our longest outing yet--3 days "on the road". I just can't decide which pictures to include, so I included MANY. This should be my biggest problem.

On Sat. we traveled to Northland, exploring the narrow strip of the North Island to the very end. Our plan was to basically drive up the west coast (Tasman Sea) to the cape and return to Auckland on the east coast (Pacific Ocean).

Our first stop was to the Kauri Museum in Matakohe. The wonderful museum not only tells about the kauri logging industry (which was basically between 1880-1930 and nearly devastated the entire kauri population), but also the kauri gum (sap) business and life of the NZ pioneers who lived and worked here. Tough people, those loggers and pioneers. I was really impressed.

Kauri furniture from the 1800's

Huge planks of kauri wood

Inside a kauri

Kauri gum gems

We then visited these beautiful trees in a few of the remaining groves in Trounson Kauri Park and Waipoua Forest. A highlight was seeing the largest kauri in the whole country, Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest Wow! Really cool.

Four Sisters kauri trees

Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest--13.8 meters girth, 51.5 meters high, about 2000 years old

We then took a 15-minute car ferry at Rawene and drove along the coast, stopping frequently to admire the views.

Rawene ferry

View from ferry

Because it stays light so late at this time of the year (summertime), we lost track of time and by 8pm we still had to have dinner and get to our motel. These little towns really close up early and we were lucky to find a fish and chips place open. This isn't your run-of-the-mill fast food chain, but the real deal: you can get fried fish, chicken, sea food, fritters, steak, etc. along with chips as well as meat/cheese pies and a variety of burgers. We ordered fish, potato fritters and chips and this HUGE amount of food arrived, all wrapped up in butcher paper. I guess we over did it, but now we know they don't mess around with food here and portions are big. We took our bundle to Ahipara beach and sat at a picnic table, watching the sunset, totally enjoying the greasy and delicious food. Oh yes, we piglets ate the whole thing. Wonderful!

Me with our packet of hot fish and chips

Watching the sunset in Ahipara while eating our fried meal

We spent the night in a simple motel in Kaitaia. Note about motels here: we've stayed in 3 so far and they've all been similar and wonderful. These are self-contained units and the studio (smallest) sleeps 3 with a full kitchen, spacious eating area and fresh milk for the morning coffee. Very nice! And the propieters are especially friendly and helpful with suggestions of what to see and do. We often get take out food and bring it back to the room rather than go to a restaurant at the end of a long, long day.

Ahhh...day 2 we drove straight to Cape Reinga at the very tip of the North Island where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. We walked along the crest trail, stopping to gaze at the view (what else?) and ended up at the lighthouse. See for yourself why we loved it so.

Us walking the path to Cape Reinga lighthouse

And another view...

...and another...

...tired yet?

Not us!

Here comes the lighthouse

We loved the way the waves fanned out

View from the lighthouse

Miles read a sign in one of the gas stations about renting a sand board to go sand surfing on the giant sand dunes nearby at Te Paki. Well, we just had to do it and it was fun. And HARD walking up the very steep dunes to get to the top. The boards are like boogie boards for the water, only these have a plastic bottom to help slide.

Getting ready for the big slide

Miles surfing

That speck is a guy climbing up the huge dune. That's how huge these dunes are.

We then meandered along the coast visitng numerous amazing bays:

Spirit's Bay

An idyllic spot near Spirit's Bay--don't the horses look relaxed?

White silica dunes at Te Hapua

Pink-colored sand at Henderson Bay

Miles lovin' it! Yippee!

Our stay that night was in Paihia, a beautiful little town in the Bay of Islands. The pretty beach area overlooks countless little islands/outcroppings. This was the most touristy place we've seen yet with many souvenir shops, cafes, motels, billboards advertising adventure fun like tandem sky-diving, kayak trips, sailing, jet skis, helicopter rides, etc. It's no wonder why cruise ships stop here and one from Australia had just arrived when we did. Even with all those tourists milling about, you can walk along the beach for a minute and you're away from it all.

Sweet Paihia

The area is very famous in New Zealand because of Waitangi, about a 10-minute walk from Paihia, which is the site where a treaty was signed between the Maoris and the British in 1840. Supposedly, the various Maori tribes welcomed the British in hopes of protection against the French. (And they liked the British guns. Much more effective than spears for killing at a distance!) We spent about 3 hours at Waitangi which had a wonderful museum complex which included a coastal walk, a Maori war canoe which holds 63 rowers, the house where the British representative lived with his family, beautiful gardens, a Maori meeting house, the site where the treaty was signed and a lovely forest walk. I'm sorry we won't be here Feb. 6 which is when they celebrate New Zealand Day and the treaty signing with dozens of Maori boats in the harbor and all kinds of ceremonies marking this historic event. Evidently the town of a few 1000 jumps to 70,000 for the occasion.

Where the treaty was signed

Maori war canoe

Meeting house

Coastal walk

Volcanic rock on the coastal walk

Forest walk

Sadly, we had to leave. We took another car ferry from Opau to Opiato and drove up to Flagstaff Peak to see the view of the Bay of Islands from a new angle. We were looking a good place to eat our picnic lunch and a very friendly local guy told us about Tapeka Pt., a small public access cove amongst lovely homes. There was one lone picnic table just for us. Boy, was that the perfect place!

View from Flagstaff Peak

Eating our lunch at Tapeka Pt.--we had the place all to ourselves

We then drove to Russell, one of NZ's oldest European settlements which was declared NZ's capital until it moved to Auckland in 1840. Because it developed as a shore station for shipping, the increasing European population grew and it became a mixture of deserting seamen, runaway convicts, grog sellers as well as settlers and traders. It gained a reputation as a lawless and bawdy port and the unflattering name "Hell Hole of the Pacific". Today, of course, it's quaint and charming, known for water sports, swimming with dolphins and fishing (Zane Grey helped establish the Bay of Islands as a center for deep sea game-fishing and wrote many stories about the area).

Charming Russell

Russell beach

We stopped at Parekura Bay and Taupiri Bay on the way home, passing amazing pasture lands with those adorable sheep and cows I've written about in previous blogs.