Taronui Bay and Cape Reinga

Another boring day on another boring walk.  Sigh.  It's a rough life.

We walked through pastures and farmland to Taronui Bay.

On the trail

 Giant fern

 Not a bad place for a farmhouse

Taronui Bay

 Picture perfect

Miles the Wimp--a little too cool to swim

Another day we drove about 3 hours to Cape Reinga, the northernmost tip of the North Island.  It was loaded with Christmas vacation visitors and some clouds, but that didn't interfere with our enjoyment of the views.  This is where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean.  From the lighthouse it is possible to watch the tidal race, as the two seas clash to create unsettled waters just off the coast.

 On the way to the lighthouse

 Signposts to places near and far

The clouds were lifting

Fan-like waves

 A lone tree growing out of the rock and blown by salty winds

On the way home, we stopped at Ninety Mile Beach, a very wide sandy area renowned for spectacular sunsets.  It also boasts one of the best left hand surf breaks in the world.  In 1932 the beach was used as the runway for some of the earliest airmail services between Australia and New Zealand. It is officially a public highway and sometimes used as an alternative road to State Highway 1 north of Kaitaia when the main road is closed due to landslides or floods.

 One direction Ninety Mile Beach...

 ...and the other direction

 One of many tour buses on the vast beach

Our last stop of the day was to Cooper's Beach. 

Quiet bay at Cooper's Beach

Tree silhouettes

Whangarei Area and Paihia

We said our goodbyes to the south-west and finally headed north.

After stopping at the Whangarei I-Site (info center) about 2 hours north of Auckland, we learned about a couple of places we had to see.

First we took a walk to Whangarei Falls on the north-east coast.  These falls were just 2 minutes off the main road.  Nature is never far away in New Zealand!  A friendly local volunteer welcomed us at the entrance and was happy to hear we were re-visiting the falls.

Then we took a loop road and stopped to hike to a couple of beautiful bays and beaches.  (I know we've posted many, many pictures of the water.  It may all look more of the same, but we just can't resist taking pictures.) So here goes:

 On the trail 

 Matapouri Beach

 Continuing on the trail 

The views are so spectacular:

After the visits to these bays, we finally arrived to Paihia in the Bay of Islands.  We really love it here and it is our fourth visit.  There are still some new places to see (and others worth re-seeing!)

Today we did something new:  We walked the 14 km. loop track Paihia-Opua-Okiato-Russell-Paihia, which is a combination of a coastal walk, a bush walk and two ferry rides.  It took us about 6 hours (including a quick meal in Russell) and was utterly wonderful.

Map of our walk

The walk started along the shoreline...

And then climbed through the bush.

We saw old gnarled trees...

...and some that looked like they were carved.

 A bird?

 Ferry from Opua to Okiato--see the Christmas tree on the boat?

More bush walking:

 Giant fern trees

 No kiwi sightings--they are nocturnal

We walked quite a while on a raised wooden platform walkway over mangroves.

Mangrove field in the marshes

We ended up in Russell,  the first permanent European settlement and sea port in New Zealand.  It was briefly its first capital from 1840-41 before moving to Auckland.  In 1865 the capital moved to Wellington.

Today Russell is a very quaint and charming sea-side town with shops, cafes and tourists.

Santa climbing into a Russell window with presents in his backpack!

New Plymouth and Opunake

New Plymouth, pop. 79,800, is in the Taranaki region on the SW side of the North Island.  All we really knew about the area was Mt. Taranaki and thought we'd basically bypass New Plymouth on the way north. However, the ranger at Egmont National Park (Mt. Taranaki) said it was worth a visit to Paritutu Rock, the Coastal Walkway and Te Rewa Rewa bridge, and he was certainly right!

After arriving at the New Plymouth shoreline, we climbed Paritutu Rock, a short and steep ascent with an amazing view of the coast and Sugarloaf islands. You start up some steep stairs and then it's pure rock and there's a chain hand rail for safety as you continue to climb. We met a guy who is soon off to Mt. Kilimanjaro and is training here.  What took me about 30 minutes to climb,  he did it in about 10. There's nothing like good training!

Paritutu Rock

Climbing up STEEP stairs

And then climbing with chain assist

View from top

We then walked along the New Plymouth Coastal Walkway.  We passed Chaddy's Charters and met David Chadfield, a former boxer-turned-charter-captain.  His "office" is chock-full of marine and personal memorabilia including a picture of him as a boxer.  One of 12, his father taught all the kids, including girls, how to box and Chaddy started at 7.  Interesting fellow!

Chaddy (picture of him as a young boxer on the wall)

Chaddy had many interesting things including a Liverpool Class C lifeboat that rights itself within 15 seconds.  We didn't get a chance to go out with him to check the self-righting feature.  Maybe next time!

He also had an aquarium.

Pregnant male sea horse in Chaddy's aquarium tank 

The Coastal Walkway was beautiful.

We walked a few kilometers as far as the Wind Wand,  a 48-meter kinetic sculpture. The sculpture includes a 45-meter tube of red fiber glass, and was made posthumously in 1999 to designs by artist Len Lye.

 Wind Wand

Before leaving New Plymouth, we went to see the Te Rewa Rewa bridge built in 2012.  The bridge is designed to evoke a sense of wind as a metaphor for the enduring spirit of the dead buried around the Rewa Rewa Maori Pa site.  We thought it looked like a whale skeleton.

Te Rewa Rewa Bridge

 The best part was when we turned around--BAM--there was Mt. Taranaki fully visible!!!

Mt. Taranaki

We were so excited!  We got some great shots as we were leaving the area.

We ended our day in Opunake, another small coastal town about an hour from Stratford.

First we took a walk to the beach.

Opunake Beach with very black sand

It was Christmas Eve and we made it back to town in time to see the annual Christmas Parade.  It was a wonderful small-town parade--felt like we were back in another era.

Bagpipers
 

 Balloons and school kids

Steampunk participants

 The next morning we walked the Opunake Coastal Path.

Windy lookout along the walk

Very pretty planted gardens

Cute doggie drinking pool in the gardens