NZ Day 10

May 15

Day – Loop hike, Vineyard, Meet Kyle and Silvia at Shipwrecks

Night – Ahipara Holiday Park

After breakfast and despite overcast skies, we set out on a 2.5 hour hike to the top of the mountain across the Bay from where we were camped.  The trail took us across several beaches separated by rock outcroppings.  We picked up the trail on the far side of the bay and wound through a tropical forest.  Many plants were foreign to us, but we found some we knew including Popolo berries!  The trail climbed slowly and views at the end were fantastic.  It looped down another ridge and returned us to sea level just as a passing shower began.  We sprinted for the car, packed up and headed down the Peninsula.  

On the way we stopped at a winery to do some tasting and snap some photos.  Then onward down to Ahipara where the famous Shipwrecks surf spot resides, and where we would be meeting Kyle and Silvia who came to NZ for 2 weeks.  We pulled into the Holiday park and exchanged hugs with our Hawaii mates whom we hadn't seen for months.  The lodge was the nicest we had seen to date, with a warm fire, ping pong table, and large kitchen.  We played table tennis and drank box wine late into the night before retiring.

Please hit the snooze button

Some of us are taking to the cold weather nicely...

While others haven't quite acclimated yet

The mountain we decided to climb (in red)

Long beach hike to the trail base

Deep NZ Roots

Local Opihi - not as pretty as Hawaii's but actually tastier

Goatman's forest (ask JV)

Popolo berries!

Halfway up, our camper vans in red

Nearing the top

Spectacular views (campers in red)

Who invited ZZ Top?

Gettin my balance on

U'i at our first Winery, Karikari Peninsula

Tasting the grapes

The crews unite at last!

Ahipara Holiday park was comfortable and fun

All smiles here

NZ Day 9

May 14

Day – Taupo Bay, Karikari Peninsula

Night – Matai Bay DOC Campsite

It was hard to get out of bed.  I savored the sheets and the ability to completely stretch out my legs.  Breakfast was yet another feast.  Our hosts were certain to replace any weight we lost in Indonesia in one day.  After chatting around the table we ambled down to the water.  The swell had left us, so we sprawled in the sun and soaked up our daily Vitamin D.  After many goodbyes, and a few tears from the girls, we waved goodbye to our family and pushed up the coast.  We turned North East when we hit the Karikari Peninsula, a long stretch of land with a perfect 90 degree bend halfway through, like a chubby arm poking its way into the pacific ocean.  At the far north tip was Matai Bay, and the first of our DOC campsite experiences.  

It was paradise.  Perfect untouched bays with small waves lapping onto the glassy protected shores.  Not a soul around.  The bathrooms were all that we needed as we settled deeper into the lifestyle we have come to love.

A family of pheasants stayed close throughout the afternoon.  As U'i mentioned in our opening NZ blog, she named them all.  The lone male was George Henry, the mother Beth, and daughters Clara and Susan.  They looked like such good eating, and were practically climbing into our van, but we had no real way of killing or properly prepping them.  Plus, we were on conservation land and I'm sure it would be looked upon with disdain.  

Breakfast NZ style - large portions!

Swell was gone, but backdrop still nice

Looking at north Taupo Bay

Forgot to do timesheets!

The George Residence - (Feels like Home)

Passing a protected harbor on our way north

I think we had a connection - rest stop en route

Ryan - reading the Matai Bay DOC signs

Close- up

NZ is a land steward example to the world

Our fowl family

Evening at Matai Bay

NZ Day 8

May 13

Day – Taupo Bay (surf)

Night – Charlotte and Kevin’s House

We woke up to a decent swell in Taupo Bay.  Waves were shoulder high to a foot overhead.  We laid around lazily for the morning waiting for the tide to come down some.  Around noon we headed down to check again.  Nice A-frames in the middle of the bay, and a more definable right on the south end of the bay.  All four of us suited up and paddled out for a long session.  We got some memorable waves.  If you looked carefully and happened to line up on the sandbar just right, a barrel was possible.  I watched U'i make a pretty big drop on a left A-frame.  I was further outside and I turned to see her hold her line and slip from view into the belly of the beast.  She made it pretty far before the closeout caught up with her.  Again, we didn't really get any photos since we were all in the water together.  You'll just have to visualize it.   Good times.

We got back to vans around 3 or 4pm.  We ran into Charlotte who told us to hurry up and pack in the vans.  We were instructed to head over to her house for dinner, hot shower, and a real bed.  Over joyed after a good session, we packed our things and drove to the next block, down a long driveway and parked in front of their new old home.

We felt like we were home for the holidays at Grandmas.  The house was charming, tastefully decorated, cozy and warm.  We got our own guest rooms with steaming hot water in the bathroom and thick comforters on the bed.  Dinner was amazing, thick sirloin steaks, potatoes, a huge salad, hot chocolate and cold Heineken.  We were so appreciative.  After dinner we watched half a rugby game with Kevin (an ex-rugby coach), and retired to the HOT TUB till our fingers turned to raisins.  Best night of sleep we've had and probably will have since leaving home.

JV doin the happy dance

The ladies preparing a feast

 What a meal!

NZ Day 7

May 12

Day – Matauri Beach, Hike up to Rainbow Warrior Memorial

Night – Taupo Bay Holiday Park

Once again we woke to a sunny morning with blue skies and crisp air.  Taking advantage of the weather, we stretched a rope from van to tree and hung out all of our belongings that had become damp during the previous 24 hours.  It was a lazy day of frisbee and beachcombing.  

We decided to hike the mountain just north of the bay and followed a well worn path up the muddy slope.  At the top we were awarded some brilliant views of the coast, as well as a large monument in honor of the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace ship attacked by terrorism while trying to protest French testing of nuclear arms near Tahiti.  

Back in the vans, we pushed on north through the countless scenic detour loops that hug the coast and wind through the valleys.  Our next stop was Taupo Bay Holiday Park.  There was no one home when we pulled in, and we weren't sure what the rates were.  We flipped a coin.  Heads we move on and drive another hour or two in search of the nearest DOC campsite, tails we stay.  We flipped tails and backed into a power spot.  

That night, a camp representative came by to say hi.  Her name was Charlotte, and she was watching the facility while the owners were away for a couple of days.  The power in Taupo Bay valley went out shortly after dark, and in a search for bathroom facilities in the dark, I struck up a conversation with Charlotte and her husband Kevin, who arrived to keep her company.  They owned a home the next street over, originally built in 1949 down south, they had it cut into 3 sections and trucked all the way up to rural Taupo.  It was cheaper than building a new home, and they really liked keeping the nostalgia and history that goes along with a old house.  Over the last couple of years they had been renovating and restoring it.  They invited us over to see it the following day.  We turned in for the night, nursing our sand fly wounds.

Dawn at Matauri Bay

Low season mo' bettah

Dryer cycle

View of the bay from up the hill

The site of the Rainbow Warrior wreckage is just over U'i's right shoulder

Morning rush hour heading down the mountain into Taupo Bay

The girls finding their inner child at the Holiday Park

Hilary chasing the wild birds at dusk, Taupo Bay

NZ Day 6

May 11

Day – Waitangi, Kerikeri

Night – Matauri Bay Holiday Park

We woke to foul weather again. My headcold came back with a vengeance,  probably from surfing cold Waipu with the remnants of a cold.  We drove from the Holiday Park back into town and setup shop at a small cafe trying to figure out what to do as we watched the powerful Nor' Easterlies trash the coastline.  

A brief visit to Waitangi was in order, as this small dot on the map was the location where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed some centuries ago between the British and the Maori people.  I will let U'i delve into the history and significance of this event at a later date.  The site housed several important landmarks, but the museum carried a hefty $50 entry fee so we read about it online and in our books and pushed on up the coast.

A short side trip into Kerikeri to fill our vans with Petrol.  Gas in NZ is pricy, about $2.25 NZD per liter on average, which roughly works out to $7 USD per gallon, so don't cry about the $5 gas prices at home.  Our camper vans are thirsty too, with a fill up chewing through 50+ liters, you can do the math.

Back on the road we took a scenic detour off of Highway 10 down to Matauri Bay where we setup shop in a campervan park on the water, cooked dinner and slept off the weather.

Caravan'in through the weather

  Dropping into Matauri Bay