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| At Bascule park, beside Te Matua a Pohe |
There are several places to
freedom camp in Whangarei but we usually park Tangaroa by the lifting bridge, Te Matua ā Pohe. This is close to the town centre and beside
the popular loop walkway that passes through the town basin with its cafes,
galleries and shops. The canopy bridge
across the Hatea River has an arts and craft market on Saturdays during the
summer that is well worth a look. Just along
Hatea Drive is Mair Park, gifted to the city by Robert Mair in 1914. It had been part of the pioneering family's
estate and still contains the old coach road which meanders through native bush
to a grassy area beside the river, popular with families. Across the footbridge we took one of the
walkways through the Parihaka Reserve to the summit of the Mount Parihaka. There was a viewing platform here with
information panels and great views of the town and harbour.
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| A H Reed Park |
Another
day we strolled along the track runs alongside the river to Whareora Road and
the entrance to the A.H. Reed Memorial Park.
A.H. Reed was well known for his publishing and charitable works—and for
his epic walks throughout New Zealand.
His family came from England to Whangarei in the 1880s and their
homestead was adjacent to the reserve car park.
A.H. Reed had described the 'noble stand of kauri' growing in the park
and the council named the domain in his memory in 1957.
We
went to look at the kauri—they are approached from a canopy walkway that took
us over streams and amongst treetops. It
was a wonderful experience to be almost part of the forest. After admiring the stately giants we followed
a track further upriver to the Whangarei Falls.
This stunning cascade drops vertically for more than 26 metres into a
pool at its base. We found platforms on
both sides at the top of the falls—a loop track goes from the base of the
waterfall, crossing the river above the falls.
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| Whangarei Falls |
For a
change of pace we visited the Whangarei Art Museum at the Town Basin, and then
took a look at Whangarei's quirkiest visitor attraction, Claphams Clock Museum. This was started by Archie Clapham, a
Whangarei character who housed his collection of 400 clocks in his home and
enjoyed visitors coming to have a look.
In 1961 he donated the collection to the Whangarei Council and in due
course a purpose built museum was constructed at the town basin. There are now 1,600 clocks to peruse, ranging
from the ornate to the bizarre.
On
the other side of town there are the 25 hectares of farmland and forest that is
home to Kiwi North. Here we found a
nocturnal kiwi house, Whangarei Museum and Heritage Park. There was so much to see we spent most of a
day investigating. The Heritage Park is
home to many old buildings that have been relocated to the site. These include the Clarke Homestead, a chapel,
school, women's jail and Jane Mander's study.
(Jane Mander was one of New Zealand's first female authors; her Story of a New Zealand River, written in
1920, is set locally.) The chapel is
hexagonal, the smallest in New Zealand and built from a single kauri log. The museum itself was a good mix of settler
history and Māori taonga. We admired the
200 year old waka, the collection of cloaks and other artefacts. Finally walked through the grounds and came
across a miniature railway and the tracks for a steam train. This runs on certain occasions taking
visitors through the grounds as far as the Clarke graveyard. Kiwi North is a POP and motorhomes are
welcome.
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| At Whangarei Town Basin |
The
town of Whangarei is situated at the head of the Whangarei Harbour— Whangarei
is said to mean the gathering place of the whales. The harbour has been important for Māori, and
later for European settlers, many of whom were Scots. McGregors Bay and McLeod Bay reflect this
heritage. We drove Tangaroa along the road that skirts the northern side of the
harbour. There is a NZMCA park at
Manganese Point but we like to stay on the waterfront at Onerahi. There is a cycle track from here into
Whangarei. It goes along the Waimahanga
track—once a railway line—and joins up with the loop walkway track that goes
through the Town Basin.
We
took the car for a few trips over the next few days. As we drove out towards Whangarei Heads, the
dramatic, castle-like rocks atop the mountains constantly caught our eye,
especially the highest, Mt Manaia. Māori
legend explains that the rocks at the peak are those of a chief named Hautatu
who was pursuing another chief, Manaia, who had kidnapped Hautatu's wife and
children. All five were struck by
lightning and turned to stone.
We
took the steep track to the summit of Mt Manaia, starting at Taurikura. The walk climbed to 403 metres above sea
level, and took between around three hours (return). The views from the track were impressive—at
the Bluff lookout we looked across to Bream Head and the off shore Hen and
Chicken Islands. There was a viewing
platform close to the summit but we went past this and skirted around the back
of the sheer cliffs to an area that can be scrambled up—if you have a head for
heights! From the top we had truly
amazing 360 degree views, up and down the coast and inland. The walk down was probably harder than going
up and my legs were shaky by the time we got back to the bottom.
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| View from Mount Manaia |
Not
so difficult, but almost as impressive was the climb to the summit of Mt Aubrey
at nearby Reotahi. The track led
straight off from the tiny car park, skirting around and up the slopes of the
mountain. When we got to a ridge we saw
a side track, with a climb up to a trig on a flat rocky summit. It really was a climb to this point, using
vegetation and rocky protuberances for handholds but again the views were
great. We looked across into the harbour
in one direction and over to Bream Head in another. Manaia towered above us with its distinctive
bush clad slopes and rocky outcrops.
Once back down on the ridge track we looped around the other face of the
mountain and descended through pūriri and totara, beside steep cliffs.
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| On the Mt Aubrey Track |
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| View from Mt Aubrey |
Another
day we went out to Urquharts Bay. The road terminated at the start of a walkway
to the romantically-named Smugglers Bay.
This was an easy but pretty walk that began in farmland beside the
Whangarei harbour, then went through coastal forest. There were gun emplacements at Home Point,
dating back to World War II. There is a
fading panoramic view painted inside one concrete bunker that shows what the
harbour looked like prior to the refinery being built across the harbour at
Marsden Point. After a steep section
through groves of nīkau palms, the track forked and there was a side trip to
the pā site at Busby Head. Māori had
long used the area for defence and living, there were big middens at Smugglers
Bay. We continued on down to the sandy
beach—where there was no evidence of smuggling to be seen, just white sand,
rock pools and views out to sea.
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| On the Smugglers Bay Track |
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| Smugglers Bay |
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| Looking down to Smugglers Bay |
Another
day we drove to the coast at Pataua South, taking the turn just past Parua
Bay. The road wound around to the
northeast, giving glimpses of Taiharuru Estuary before arriving at Pataua. An arching wooden footbridge joined Pataua
South with its northern counterpart.
There were plenty of people, young and old, jumping and diving from the
footbridge into the waters below and we watched them for a while before setting
our sights on Pataua Mountain. Sometimes
known as Pataua Island, the mountain is really a hill and it is on a peninsula
rather than an island. Despite that it
is quite a landmark and we decided to climb it.
The
track started near the pretty sandy beach called Frog Town (no one seems to
know why) and went steeply uphill through deep mounds of kikuyu and other
grasses. We were already getting lovely
views of the coast and the higher we went the better they became. We scrambled through the roots of a pōhutukawa
at one point before reaching the summit.
From here the views were extensive.
We could look north into Ngunguru Bay and beyond, to the south we looked
back to the heads. Pataua and the
footbridge were tiny. No wonder Māori
used the place as a pā—it was in use when the missionary Samuel Marsden took
shelter there in 1820.
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| Pataua |
Retracing
our steps we returned to the estuary. We
found a shady spot under the pōhutukawa trees on the Pataua North side and I
had a refreshing swim. Reflecting on our
stay in Whangarei and our explorations of its harbour we realised why some of
our friends call us 'the mountain goats'.
We had certainly climbed to some heights in the area and taken in some
magical views.
Information about places mentioned in this post - correct at time of writing
Walks
- · Mount Parihaka Scenic
Reserve
www.wdc.govt.nz/FacilitiesandRecreation/WalksTrails/Pages/Parihaka.aspx
Hokianga/Dobbie and
Drummond tracks: 1.4-1.9 km, 40-50 min, easy: walking track
Access: Rurumoki Street, Whangarei
- · A.H. Reed Memorial Park
www.wdc.govt.nz/FacilitiesandRecreation/WalksTrails/Pages
/AHReedMemorialPark.aspx
Canopy Loop: 15 min,
easy: walking track
Waterfall walk: 1.4 km, 1
hour return, easy: walking track
Access: Whareora Rd, Kensington, Whangarei
- · Mount Manaia Track
www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/northland/places/whangarei-heads-area/things-to-do/mount-manaia-track
3.5 km return, 2-3 hr,
easy: walking track (but steep)
Access: Whangarei Heads Road, McLeod Bay
- · Mount Aubrey and Reotahi
Coastal Walkway
www.wdc.govt.nz/FacilitiesandRecreation/WalksTrails/Pages/MountAubrey.aspx
1.1 km, 2 hrs, easy:
walking track
Access: Reotahi Road, McLeod Bay
- · Smugglers Bay Loop Track
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/northland/places/whangarei-heads-area/things-to-do/smugglers-bay-loop-track
3 km loop, 1.5 hr, easy:
walking track
Access: Urquharts Bay
Road, Urquharts Bay
- · Pataua Island
easy beach walk and 15
min climb to the top of Pataua Island Mountain
Access: Mahanga Rd, Pataua
South
Places to visit
- · Whangarei Art Museum
Town Basin, Whangarei
http://whangareiartmuseum.co.nz
Hours: 10.00 am-4.00 pm
daily
Entry: donation
- Claphams Clock Museum
http://claphamsclocks.com
Hours: 9.00 am-5.00 pm
Entry price: adult $10,
senior and student $8, child $4
- · Kiwi North: Whangarei
Museum, Kiwi House, Heritage Park
500, SH 14, Maunu,
Whangarei
www.kiwinorth.co.nz
Hours: 10.00 am-4.00 pm
Entry price: adult $20,
senior and student $15, child $5
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