Whangarei - Walker's Paradise

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

On the Mt Aubrey Track

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. 

On the Smugglers Bay Track

Smugglers Bay

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.

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

 Town basin, Whangarei

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

Ocean Roads - Frome Cape Brett to Ngunguru

Mimiwhangata

The Cape Brett lighthouse stands as a guardian on the eastern side of the Bay of Islands.  The coast further south is indented with harbours, bays, sandy beaches and estuaries all the way to Ocean Beach at the entrance to Whangarei Harbour.  There is no one road linking these places, though the Russell Road goes as far as Helena Bay before turning inland.  Then there is a loop road from Hikurangi that takes in the settlements of the Tutukaka Coast.  Access to Pataua North is from this road as it nears Whangarei but to get to Pataua South you have to take the narrow Mount Tiger Road or the road beside the Whangarei Harbour.  Pataua North and South are joined by a footbridge only.  There are various DOC campgrounds along the way, as well as private ones, but we mainly freedom camped, and used the car for some trips.

            We began by walking the track to the Cape Brett lighthouse with friends.  It took about eight hours and we stayed overnight at the DOC hut beside the lighthouse, walking back the following day.  We set off from Rawhiti, where there is an ornately carved Māori gateway marking the start of the track.  We were soon making our way through bush and up onto a ridge.  For the rest of the morning we followed the spines of hills—with spectacular coastal views appearing as the track wove from one side of the peninsula to the other and back again. 

            We continued on our way after eating a picnic lunch and, as we neared a side track to Deep Water Cove, we were startled to see some walkers appearing from here.  It seemed like cheating to only walk the last part of the track.  These people were yachties who had anchored in the cove and, because they hadn't so far to walk, were carting luxuries we couldn't carry.  Someone was even hefting a chilly-bin with cold beer and wine inside.  (They didn't even offer anything around later when we were cooking our dehydrated food and drinking water.) 

            The last part of the track was tough.  There were sheer drop-offs down to the ocean, then the track went steeply down before going sharply up to the hut.  We had to force our tired legs up this last part.  It had been a long day but the views had been amazing.  The location was unique—we were almost surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.  When darkness fell the starry sky seemed to stretch for ever.

Oakura Bay

Teal Bay

            Next we drove Tangaroa south to explore some of the coastal settlements along the Russell Road.  At the south end of the Whangaruru Harbour we turned into the seaside settlement of Oakura.  The stretch of sandy beach here was sheltered from the ocean swell by outlying islands so I felt safe swimming.  After a few more wiggly kilometres of road we came to Helena Bay.  Two bays nestle into the larger Helena Bay, Te Mimiha and Ngawai Bay, usually known as Teal Bay.  We enjoyed the beach at Teal Bay before following Russell Road uphill to the Helena Bay Cafe and Gallery.  There was great food and quality artwork here, along with amazing views down to the coast.

At Helena Bay Cafe

            We used the car for our next drive as the road to Mimiwhangata Coastal Park Scenic Reserve is extremely narrow and windy—not suitable for Tangaroa.  The park stretches on both sides of the peninsula with undulating hills, areas of bush and sandy beaches.  Mimiwhangata was heavily populated by Māori in pre-European times and inter-tribal battles were fought there.  Evidence of agriculture, middens and 12 pā sites have been identified. 

            Europeans began farming at the site in the 1860s and a decade later there was a short-lived whaling venture.  Even the Queen has visited Mimiwhangata.  Queen Elizabeth II, together with Prince Philip, Princess Anne and Prince Charles came ashore from the royal yacht Britannia for a picnic in 1970.  A large scale tourist development was later planned for Mimiwhangata but once the historical and archaeological value of the area became known a trust was formed.  The Crown bought the land in 1993. 

Mimiwhangata

            We parked the car beneath some magnificent pokutukawa trees, brilliant red with summer blossom, then walked the loop track around the peninsula.  This walk took about an hour and a half and took us past little lakes, home to rare brown teal, and to hilltops where there were views out to the Poor Knights Islands.  We dropped down to into Mimiwhangata Bay and walked along the beach before cutting back across the neck of the peninsula to the car park.  We enjoyed Okupe Beach, having a picnic and a swim before taking the drive back to Tangaroa.

Mimiwhangata

            From SH 1 several roads lead out to the coast.  We took the road from Hikurangi that went out to the Tutukaka Coast, parking Tangaroa at Woolleys Bay.  From here we took the car a few kilometres back up the road to Sandy Bay and walked the coastal path to Whananaki.  This track was almost six kilometres each way, and took around six hours to walk. 

            The track wound its way around hillsides and headlands, giving an ever-changing view of the coastline and beaches.  After about four kilometres there was a side track that brought us to a monument commemorating those who lost their lives in a shipwreck here.  The freighter Capitaine Bougainville caught fire and sank in 1975.  Of the 37 people aboard only 21 made it to shore safely, as lifeboats capsized in the rough weather.  At Whananaki we walked across the longest footbridge in the Southern Hemisphere, then turned around and headed back to Sandy Bay.

Capitaine Bougainville Monument

            One of the best walks in the world came next—from the beautiful sandy crescent of Matapouri Bay along the cliffs to hidden Whale Bay.  There are car parks at several places beside the beach at Matapouri but they get crowded in summer as there are lots of baches in the settlement.  Boardwalks through dunes took us down to the beach which curves in a perfect horseshoe shape with bush-covered headlands at either end.  The south end of the beach forms a sandspit, with the river curving behind it before emptying into the bay.  To the north are  some little rocky bays with pōhutukawa for shade and very safe swimming.   There used to be access through a tunnel from here to the Mermaid Pools—tide filled rock pools—on the other side of the headland.  Unfortunately a rock fall blocked the way but there is  a steep track over the hill and the pools are fun to swim in at low tide.

            The track to Whale Bay started at this end of the beach and went steeply uphill to the cliff-top.  It was only about half an hour's walk from here to Whale Bay which is tucked in behind another headland.  Pōhutukawa lined the beach, and there were views along the coast to Woolleys Bay and Whananaki.  Because there is no road access to Whale Bay it was almost deserted and I enjoyed a swim while Malcolm fossicked in the rock pools.  To get back to Matapouri we climbed up the steps from the beach and took the track that leads to the road, turning left after a few minutes.  This footpath took us downhill through some bush before leading to the dunes at Matapouri Beach.

Whale Bay

            Just south of Matapouri is Tutukaka, a pretty harbour with a marina that is home to charter and dive boats.  The Poor Knights islands are just off shore and the marine reserve that surrounds them is rated as one of the best ten places to dive in the world.  We didn't park in the marina though; we drove up a private road just to the north that took us to a small car park.  This was the start of the walk out to the Tutukaka lighthouse.  A grassy track led uphill and after a few minutes we looked down to a small beach.  Steep steps took us down to the beach (this is a low tide walk only) and across to a bush clad island.  It was another steep uphill climb through bush to the top of this hillside then we were at the lighthouse.  From here we had great views of the coast, the harbour and inland.  This was where we were headed next.

On the lighthouse walk

At Ngunguru

            We freedom camped beside the estuary at Ngunguru, and turned away from the coast for a change—we wanted to see Tane Moana, a large kauri.  We walked this track with some friend so left a car at the far (Matapouri) end of the track and walked one way only— about two hours.  Tane Moana is the largest kauri remaining on the east coast—it's circumference is more than eleven metres.  It was exciting to come upon the tree, so unexpected in an area that is known for its beaches and water-based activities.  (Moana means sea).  After admiring Tane Moana we continued our walk, the most pleasant part being closest to the end where we found ourselves in almost pristine bush.

Tane Moana

            It is important that visitors to areas where kauri are growing be aware of kauri die-back disease.  This terrible disease is threatening New Zealand's iconic tree with extinction.  There is no cure for it—and it can be spread by minute amounts of soil on shoes and gear.  The mould spores remain viable on footwear for six years, so it is vital that visitors clean their shoes before entering and when leaving kauri forests.  It is important that walkers stay on tracks and do not tread on kauri roots.  We always take these precautions in the hope that the disease can be contained so future generations can enjoy kauri forests as we do.

Information about places mentioned in this post - correct at time of writing

Walks

·         Cape Brett Track

www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/northland/places/cape-brett-and-whangamumu-area/things-to-do/cape-brett-track/

16.3 km, 8 hr one way, advanced: tramping track

Cape Brett Hut, bookings required.  Track maintenance fee, adult $40

Access: Oke Bay, Rawhiti

·         Mimiwhangata Loop Walk

www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/northland/places/mimiwhangata-coastal-park/

4.5 km, 1.5-2hr, easy: walking track

Access: Mimiwhangata Coastal Rd

·         Whananaki Coastal Walkway

http://www.wdc.govt.nz/FacilitiesandRecreation/WalksTrails/Pages/

Whananaki.aspx

5.8km, 3 hr one way, easy: walking track

Access: McAuslin Rd, Sandy Bay

·         Matapouri to Whale Bay Headland Track

www.wdc.govt.nz/FacilitiesandRecreation/WalksTrails/Pages

/MatapouriWhaleBay.aspx

1.1 km, 45 min one way, easy: walking track

Access: Morrison Rd, Matapouri

·         Tutukaka Lighthouse Walk

whangareinz.com/holiday/activities/tutukākā-kukutauwhao-island-the-tutukākā-lighthouse-walk

2km, 1.5 hr return, (low tide only) easy: walking track

Access: Landowners Lane, Tutukaka

Places to Visit

·         Helena Bay Gallery

1392 Old Russell Rd, Hikurangi

http://www.galleryhelenabay.co.nz/

Hours: gallery 10.00 am-5.00 pm, cafe 9.30 am-5.00pm

Hokianga - Backroads and Boulders

Rawene on the Hokianga Harbour

The Hokianga Harbour is known in Māori as Te Hokianga Kupe A Nui: the great leaving (or returning place) of Kupe.  Kupe was the legendary Polynesian voyager who first discovered Aotearoa New Zealand.  It was around 925 AD that the Matahourua canoe arrived in the Hokianga, where Kupe and his crew settled for a while.  Kupe eventually left the harbour and returned to Hawaiki, but his grandson, Nukutawhiti, returned—following Kupe's sailing instructions.  Later European missionaries, traders and settlers arrived in the Hokianga and for a while it was a busy place with shipping and logging industries.  Nowadays the Hokianga is a sleepy place, less visited than popular tourist areas like the Bay of Islands but with a charm of its own.

            We began our journey to the Hokianga at Kaitaia, where we parked Tangaroa at the RSA, close to the town centre.  We were keen to visit the Te Ahu Centre, which is home to the town's i-SITE, museum, library and art gallery.  The doors into the atrium were etched with the figures of a Māori and Pakehā greeting each other with the hongi—a touching of noses and foreheads where the breath of life is exchanged.  Like the area just to the north, Kaitaia has a population made up of Māori and Europeans with Dalmatian ancestry—many of the gumdiggers arrived from what is now Croatia.  Māori nicknamed them tarara, meaning fast-talkers, other Europeans called them Dallys.  Many of these emigrants sent for wives and families to follow them; their descendents still live in the area and their surnames appear on street names and businesses.

At the Te Ahu Centre

            Inside the circular atrium we admired the carved pou that represent the local iwi (tribes).  There was also one that celebrated the Dalmatian community.  Upstairs a walkway encircled the building and we were able to examine the tops of the pou at close quarters, as well as the flock of godwits that were suspended from the ceiling.  Godwits gather along the coast north of Kaitaia prior to migrating to Siberia and Alaska in the autumn.

            We took the car and went exploring the North Hokianga, heading west on the Kaitaia-Awaroa road for Ahipara, at the foot of Ninety Mile Beach.  Actually fifty-five miles (88 kilometres) long, it is a beautiful stretch of sand.  Officially a public highway, tourist busses drive along it, taking customers to the huge dunes near Te Paki Stream and on to Cape Reinga.  Once the beach was famous for toheroa (a large shellfish), but gathering is now banned because they came close to extinction.  The smaller tuatua can still be found though, and are usually cooked up in fritters.

            Shipwreck Bay, to the left of the township, is aptly named.  At low tide some of the wrecks are still visible.  Above Shipwreck Bay the Ahipara Gumfields Historic Reserve stretched inland.  In the late 1800s these gumfields were home to 2,000 people, and boasted three hotels and several shops. Bullock teams carried the gum to waiting ships at Shipwreck Bay.  As we drove through the scrubby, featureless, empty landscape it was hard to imagine the area in its heyday. 

            We took the Kaitaia-Awaroa Road to Herekino township, which is on one of two small harbours between Ahipara and the Hokianga Harbour.  Herekino Harbour was marked as 'False Hokianga' on early charts because of the similarity of the entrances.  The H.M.S. Osprey was lost here in 1846 when the captain mistook the features at the heads. Dalmatian immigrants began growing grapes at Herekino and in the early years of the twentieth century there were more than a dozen vineyards.  As late as the 1960s Herekino was a thriving township but then the highway was sealed through the Mangamuka Gorge, leaving Herekino stranded in the backblocks.

            Driving these windy roads through bush-covered hills, we were traversing a landscape devoid of people.  An ancient villa set back at the edge of some trees caught my eye and I wondered who lived there—and who had lived there in days gone by.  Broadwood, another 21 kilometres east of Herekino had a store.  A pair of old men sat outside leaning on their walking sticks, watching the world go by.  There was not much world going by.

            We moved Tangaroa to the area known as the 'top of the harbour', back to our old spot by the tavern at Horeke.  We had previously visited when we completed the Twin Coast Cycle Trail and when we checked out the Mission Station.  This time we wanted to explore the Wairere Boulders. 

At Wairere Boulders

            We took the car along the Taheke-Horeke Road, turning at McDonnell Road.  In the nineteenth century there was a village called Wairere in this valley, which is the site of the first water-driven sawmill in New Zealand.  When Rita and Felix Schaad bought the property in 1983 they had no idea that there were huge boulders in their jungly bush.  After discovering the fluted basalt rocks they researched their history and geology, discovering that the fluting was caused by the leaching of acid from the kauri trees that used to grow all over the surrounding hillsides. The couple built pathways amongst and around the boulders, eventually opening the park to the public.  We spent an hour or two walking the tracks that looped up the valley sides, marvelling at the size of the boulders.  Some are stacked above and beside others, giving the impression they may fall at any moment, though in reality they have been in that position for centuries.  There is free overnight parking for self-contained motorhomes and, since our visit, the owners have opened a cafe.  All the more reason to make another trip out that way!

At Wairere Boulders

            Back on SH 12 we journeyed west and took the turn off to the harbourside settlement of Rawene.  This is New Zealand's third oldest European settlement and it had a post office as early as 1845.  Some of its early buildings survive, clustered around the waterfront.  Many of these are galleries and cafes; our favourite was the Boatshed Cafe, sitting on piles over the water. 

            After a coffee and cake we crossed the road to look around Clendon House.  This lovely old building was built in the 1860s for James Reddy Clendon who had been a witness to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, a magistrate and the American Consul.  Clendon made and lost his fortune several times and on his death in 1872 left his wife, Jane, in straitened circumstances.  We learned how the plucky woman managed to keep the creditors at bay, hanging on to possessions and keeping the family together until her death in 1919.  The property remained in the family until 1972 and is now in the care of Heritage New Zealand.

Clendon House

            The Hokianga Ferry plies the harbour waters from Rawene to Kohukohu, on the northern bank.  We joined the short queue and were soon safely aboard the ferry enjoying the 15-minute trip.  Seeing the settlements from the water was quite magical.

            Just over a century ago Kohukohu had a population of around 1,000, and the timber milling and ship building industries of the Hokianga were centred here.  Now there are about 150 inhabitants, many of them artists and writers.  Strolling around Kohukohu's historic precinct we really got the sense of how big and prosperous the, now tiny, settlement once was.  Fire has destroyed many of the old wooden buildings but enough remain to give a good impression of the wealth that the people once enjoyed here.  We walked across a little footbridge, discovering it was built in the 1840s from Sydney sandstone and was the first stone bridge built in New Zealand.

Kohukohu

            Back at Rawene we headed toward the mouth of the Hokianga Harbour and the settlements of Opononi and Omapere.  On the way we turned off to look at, what are probably one of the most unexpected things in the Hokianga.  These are the Koutu Boulders, sometimes described as Hokianga's best kept secrets. 

            We found these huge spheres along the beach between Koutu and Kauwhare Points, after turning off SH 12 a few kilometres east of Opononi.  Like the more famous boulders at Moeraki in the South Island, these are concretions and have taken around five million years to grow.  There is a small car park off Koutu Loop Road near the beach.  We parked here and made our way along the beach finding that the further we walked the larger the rocks became.  Some specimens were enormous—more than five metres in diameter.  The walk was about an hour's return trip and we went at low tide—it is possible, but trickier, at high tide.  What was truly magical about visiting the Koutu Boulders was the fact that we were the only people there, unlike Moeraki which is always crowded with visitors.

Koutu Boulders

            Opononi and Omapere are twin settlements and from their sandy beaches we looked across to the huge dunes of North Head—it was like looking across to the Sahara.  Constantly shifting, forming sculptural towers, ridges and overhangs the dunes are of spiritual significance to Māori.  The dunes can be visited by boat from the wharf at Opononi.  We stopped to photograph a small statue near the Opononi Hotel.  A child and a dolphin are shown frolicking together in the shallow water, commemorating the dolphin known as Opo.  Back in 1955 a female dolphin swam into the harbour and stayed.  She was happy to play with beach-goers and became famous.  Locals named her Opo.  Unfortunately at the end of that summer Opo's body was found.  It was assumed she had been accidentally killed by fishermen who had been using dynamite.

            From Omapere we walked up the hillside to the Arai-Te-Uru (South Head) Reserve.  From here there were views in all directions, though our eyes were drawn to the ocean and the headlands at the harbour mouth.  Legends say that Arai-Te-Uru and Niua (North Head) are the names of taniwha (water monsters) that Kupe left to guard the harbour entrance when he sailed back to Hawaiki.  Māori mariners called on the taniwha for protection but Europeans built a signal station.  Remains of the signal station, pilot house and boatshed can be seen at the reserve.

            From Omapere, SH 12 headed south through the Waipoua Forest.  We would return later to explore the kauri forests of Waipoua and Northland's west coast.

View from South Head