We woke to another hot and sunny day. I could get used to this. We wanted to explore Kawhia (pronounced caw-fee-ah) before heading down the road. We found that it is a small village of approximately 650 residents that is steeped in Maori history. The village sits in Kawhia harbor which is protected from the Tasman Sea by a buffer of forested sand dunes. The fishing in the harbor is very good and as result the area is a draw for sport fishing.
Just prior to leaving town Kathy took a picture of this bird. A short time before we stopped it had dove down and took one of the fisherman’s bait. We were told it was quite a sight watching the people try and rescue the bird. The good news is that they were successful.
There was beach just outside of town we wanted to visit. Ocean Beach is a long expanse of beach that can be driven on during low tide. It is a difficult drive so most people just walk from the provided car park. The only downside of the walk is climbing the soft sand in the dunes.
The walk completed we continued on with our journey. We were not far from the main highway that would start taking us to Raglan. We climbed one last rise, took a couple of pictures and then pulled into Waitomo.
We stopped for an ice cream and realized that there was Top Ten Holiday Park across the street. As it was late in the afternoon, it didn’t take much arm twisting on Kathy’s part to convince me to stop. Especially since it was a very hot day and we could see that the park had some very large shade trees. So we decided to check in, get one of those shady spots and just relax for the rest of the day. Another great day.
Ocean Beach is a black sand beach and between certain times when the tide is out you can take a warm bath. There is an area where the warm waters seep up to the surface and if you dig a hole it will fill with warm water.
It was at one of the bath holes that we met Karen, a young lady who let us dip our toes in her pool to try it out. It was quite warm.
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| Karen |
We then met the rest of her family who were here on holidays from Auckland enjoying the beach and the hot pools. We spent some time chatting with them. They were very nice people and we wish them well on their holidays.
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| Thomas, Dad & Mom |
We left the holidaying bathers and strolled down the beach. Aside from the area where the hot water came up the beach was relatively deserted. We enjoyed our time just strolling along and taking pictures.
Just prior to leaving the beach we met and chatted with a lovely couple who were also here on holidays. They are from the Upper Hutt area which is very close to Wellington. Des and Angela were two very lovely people who were celebrating Desmond’s 86th birthday which was the next day. Happy Birthday Des.
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| Desmond & Angela |
We left the beach and Kawhia and started our drive to Raglan. That is where we were planning to spend the night but we wanted to take the circular route. We had to get back to Highway 3 but instead of taking the most direct route we turned south onto The Freedom Highway. This was the highway we wanted to drive yesterday but time prohibited.
It was a narrow highway with many turns which made it very slow going. It did provide us with some pretty nice sights.
Our first planned stop was at the Marokopa Falls. It was a short 10 minute downhill walk to the falls. This was one of the most impressive falls we have seen while we have been here. The pictures really don’t do any justice in capturing its beauty.
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| Path to Marokopa Falls |
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| Path to Marokopa Falls |
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| Marokopa Falls |
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| Marokopa Falls |
Our next stop was the Piripiri Caves. As much as I don’t like going into caves I still want to have a look at them. This is where some research would have paid off. We got there only to find out that you needed to enter the came to get any kind of view. You also needed a flashlight which we didn’t have. The end result being that we climbed 110 stairs just to take a picture of the entrance. Oh well, it was good exercise.
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| Stairs to the Caves |
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| Kathy leaves the cave (lol) |
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| Piripiri Caves |
Our last stop along The Freedom Highway was the Mangapohoe Scenic Reserve and the Mangapohoe Natural Bridge. It was a loop walk along side of a river that lead to an area where water and wind over a long period had carved out a natural bridge and a small cork screw canyon. It was quite fascinating however the lighting and small spaces prevented any pictures from showing its true magnitude.
The loop trail took us past the bridge and into a farmer’s field. Here we found some very different rock formations and another deposit of oyster fossils. The fossils we see in the rock are from giant oyster beds that are 35 million years old. Sediment and shell fragments smothered the oyster beds and gradually compacted to form limestone. About 10 million years ago, movements in the earth’s crust caused the seafloor to rise up and become land. In places, wind and water have eroded the limestone and exposed the oysters.
We continued our walk through the farmer’s field doing our best to enjoy the scenery and to avoid the pitfalls. It was a daunting task.
You have some awesome photos here. I love Raglan and my partner and I often visit in our motor home and always have dinner at sunset overlooking the beach from the top of the cliffs. Awesome views.
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