Day 8 Warkworth and Omaha Beach, NZ

We woke up to another glorious spring day, sunny, no wind with a temperature of 60 degrees.  We are spending two nights at Sandspit Campground so today we were exploring close to home.  Around mid morning we headed downtown to have a walk around Warkworth.

Downtown Warkworth



Latte Time



The Warkworth district is known as the Kowhai Coast, named after the native kowhai tree, and the town's annual Kowhai Festival is one of the largest community festivals in the country, running for around a week in spring.  We found out today that that festival starts tomorrow and that they still use a live barker to advertise it.



Old Time Barker Advertising Festival

After we had lunch downtown we headed to Parry Kauri Park Walkway which is home to two Kauri trees that are somewhere from 800 – 1000 years old.  The Kauri tree is New Zealand’s oldest and largest tree.  There are some Kauri trees that are over 2000 years in age that we will get to see later in the trip. We took the 25 minute walk through the forest before heading on.



Fine Looking Couple and a big Kauri Tree

 



McKinney Kauri  800-900 Years Old



Simnpson Kauri Tree

Walkway Through Kauri Forest

An example of the New Zealand people being extra friendly was evident again today.  When we first arrived in Warkworth I asked a lady about parking regulations and of course she helped us.  It was a short time later that she along with her husband stopped us on the street to offer assistance in any way they could.  It was very nice of them to help us unsolicited and we ended up following up on one of their suggestions.

Omaha Beach is about 15 miles from Warkworth but is not advertised as a tourist attraction.  The beach is 7 miles long and is quite spectacular when the tide is out, as it was today. 



Omaha Beach Looking South




Omaha Beach Looking North



We walked for quite awhile before turning around and heading back to the van.  It was about 10 degrees colder and a lot windier on the beach.   

The return trip to Sandspit took us inland and through some pretty phenomenal scenery.  The rolling hills were unbelievably lush and green.  We managed to find a place where we could pull over and take a few pictures.  I hope that the camera was able to capture what our eyes could see.



After a short drive and a few pictures we arrived back at our campsite.  We set up and settled in for then night.  It was a good Kiwi Day.