THE KIWI KRONICLES: October 2010

Day 29 Shelly Beach, Coromandel Town and Whitianga

We left Shelly Beach and headed north on the Colville Road which not surprisingly took us to Colville. Colville was New Zealand's home of "hippy culture" in the 70's and still retains the relaxed vibe that this entails. Just north of Colville the pavement ended so we turned around and backtracked to Coromandel Town.

Coromandel Town

Coromandel Town once a mining town is now a haven for artists and craftsmen from all over New Zealand.

Maori Wood Carver

As we left Coromandel Town we turned inland and started to climb and boy did we climb. It was one continuous S curve until we reached the summit. There was a scenic lookout at the top of the mountain which gave us a very unique view and was definitely one of those "WOW" moments. You could see back towards the east coast of the Peninsula and see the Firth of Thames, Coromandel Town and the hills and foliage we had just climbed through.

Islands in Firth of Thames

Coromandel Town

Coastline and Firth of Thames

Then, if you just turned around you could see the West Coast of the Island which was pretty spectacular in itself. The town of Matarangi, Whangapoua Harbor, Otama Beach (I think) and the Pacific Ocean were all in view. Quite a sight. We just stood and looked for quite awhile along with a lot of other people. It just seemed to mesmerize you.

Matarangi and the Pacific Ocean

Inland from Matarangi

Pacific Ocean

Finally we headed off and down. The way down was the same as the way up, one continuous S curve. We eventually came to what I believe was Buffalo Beach, it could have been another small cove. Regardless of the name it was a nice spot with a parking lot so we stopped to have lunch.

Buffalo Beach

Buffalo Beach the other way

We finished lunch, took a few pictures, talked to a couple of locals and then took off for Whitianga. After getting set up in our campsite we went for a walk downtown to have a look and to get a latte and hot chocolate.

When we got back from the walk we found this camper parked near us and it caught us by surprise. Not sure what to make of it.

Day 28 Thames, Kauaeranga Valley and Shelly Beach

We had plans to do a little hiking today but I wasn't sure the weather was going to cooperate. It was very overcast and we had the occasional light sprinkle. We decided to go anyway so we headed to the Kauaeranga Valley which was inland from Thames. Today was more about exercise than it was scenery as we would be walking in the forest. The first little hike we went on was to Billygoat Falls, actually we hiked to a landing where we could view the falls. We were still quite a ways away so I am sure a lot of its natural beauty was lost.

Billygoat Falls

The trip on was only about 15 minutes but we did encounter a neat little bridge on the way.

We did use the bridge but I wasn't sure how strong it was and the capacity of the bridge did not give me a lot of optimism.

Once we had our fill of the falls we headed back to the van where we had lunch. Next was the hike to Edwards Lookout. This hike got our heart rate up as the way in was all uphill. We climbed for about 20 minutes on a fairly steep grade. The good news was that we were able to keep a fairly brisk pace up the hill. Just maybe these old bodies are starting to get in shape.

Up we go.

Down we come.

When we reached the top we could get a clear look at the valley below. The view was nice but compared to other viewpoints we have looked down from, this one was a little lacking. However, today was more about exercise and any "wows" would be a bonus.

Our Van is parked down at the road

Kauaeranga Valley

Upon reaching the van we decided to leave the valley. It was fairly slow going as the road was not paved and at times it got pretty narrow.

Once we were out of the Valley we turned north as we had picked out a campsite at Shelly Beach that we wanted to get to. It is a good starting point for what we have planned tomorrow. It was only about 58 Kilometers and I figured that it would take us about an hour based on the roads we had encountered so far in our trip. Wrong. It took us close to two hours. Now I admit some of that time was stopping and taking pictures but mostly it was the character of the road. In spite of the time, the drive was exhilarating, beautiful and somewhat scary.

The road had us following the coast of The Firth of Thames and I mean following the coast. At times it was no more than 5 feet from us, straight down. The road was as twisting as any we had seen to date and very narrow. In a couple of places it was down to one lane.

We continued to follow the coast until just before reaching Coromandel Town where we headed inland for a short while. This involved climbing and a whole new world opened up. The road didn't change, it just went up but the view from some of the turnouts was just breath taking.

We dropped down to sea level as we entered Coromandel Town but we didn't stop. It was starting to rain so we wanted to get to our campsite which was about 5 km out of town at a place called Shelly Beach. Once we arrived there I went down I took pictures of the beach, the tide is out.

Shelly Beach with Tide Out

Shelly Beach

As the sun was setting, Kathy went out and took a few shots of the setting sun. She went because I am afraid of the dark. The pictures turned out quite nice and the beautiful sky was a nice ending to another fine day in New Zealand.

Day 27 Muriwai Beach, Auckland and Thames

Today was moving day. At least it was in our minds. We are leaving the Northland and heading over to the Coromandel Peninsula for a few days or a week or a week and a few days. Time will tell. We had only planned to spend around 10 days in the Northland and today is day 27. Right on target.

It is a beautiful day so we thought we would have one last look at the birds. This time we went to the other side of the bluff for a different perspective of both the birds and the scenery. It didn't matter, both sides were pretty nice. The beaches along here get some pretty big waves so it is a popular spot with surfers and there were quite a few out today. We had to move along so we took pictures of both the scenery and the birds before we hit the road.

Muriwai Beach and Tasman Sea

A perfection of flight.

The route we wanted to take had us getting back on Hwy 16 and following it to Hwy 1 which would take us through Auckland from the west. However, we missed the turn and ended up on Hwy 18 which also took us to Hwy 1 but from quite a bit further north. This had us come into Auckland from the north but all is good as we only lost a little time.

Auckland, New Zealand

We had to stop in Auckland at the Campervan Rental Company to get a few things checked out and to pick up a couple of things that were not in the van that we needed. They made the necessary repairs and had us out of there in no time and we thank them for that.

Our next stop is the Coromandel Peninsula and to get there we continued south on Hwy 1 until we came to Hwy 2. We then followed it for a short while until we came to Hwy 25 which was going to take us right into Thames and our campground. You can see from the pictures that as we got closer to the peninsula the mountains that make up the interior come into view.

We got to the campground just before six and just relaxed for the rest of the evening. We plan to do a fair amount of hiking tomorrow and need our rest.

Day 26 Matakohe, Muriwai Beach and the Gannet Colony

Shorts and t-shirts. Right from the beginning that was the mode of dress. It's a beautiful day which made it hard for us to get going. We had to fill and drain which also delayed us but we finally got on the road. I think we have officially joined the getaway late and stop early club.

We left Matakohe by following Hwy 12 over to Hwy 1 which is the main Hwy in the North Island. We followed it until we came to Wellsford where we turned onto Hwy 16 which would keep us on the West side. We stopped in Wellsford for gas, a few groceries and lunch. We also discovered that most of the Cafes and Bakeries do a soup for lunch. It is a meal size bowl plus it is homemade and really good. Today we had pumpkin.

After lunch we continued southwest on Hwy 16 until we came to one of the very few scenic turnouts so I had to stop. Wow, what a view. It was a sea of green and more green until you could see the Kaipara Harbor. I took photos but nothing can equal just sitting there and enjoying the view.

Green, Green and more Green

Our next stop was a few miles down the road when we took a small side road up to the Mt. Auckland walkway. It was a 3 mile (one way) hike up to the mountain peak but we only went part way. We climbed up to the second highest part and the view was pretty good from here.

View from Mt. Auckland walk

View from Mt. Auckland Walk

Part of the area was logged at one time, it is hard to tell when but the felled stuff left behind looks aged. They have replanted a portion of the area but some of it still looks pretty devastating.

More burnt out area

Once back on the highway we headed straight for Helensville and the Information center. They call them I Sites here. We decided that based on what we heard we were going to continue south until we got to Muriwai Road. It would take us to the coast, Muriwai Beach and the campsite.

After we got set up I walked down to the beach. Muriwai Beach is known for two things. One, the black sand beaches. This is caused by the iron content derived from the ancient volcanoes in the area. The majority of the black mineral sand is carried up the west coast from Mt. Taranaki.

Muriwai Beach

Black Volcanic Rock

The second is the Gannet Colony that comes here every year to breed. They started coming here in the late seventies and forced the white-fronted terns that were already here unto the lower ledges. The gannets breed in early October and the chicks are born 45 days later. The chicks then leave for Australia at 15 weeks old returning to breed when they are between three and seven years old.

I walked down the beach to the cliffs and followed the paths up and over until I came to the colony. I sat and watched the birds fly and float around in the wind currents for awhile. They are perfect flying machines.

Gannet Colony