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Days 29-34 (March 1 to March 6): Montana and Maori – the early North Island Experience

Hello dear friends and family,
We are not lost…we are stalled briefly by weather, and thus I have been given an excellent opportunity to catch up on our travels. FYI…we are sitting in a beautiful, but elderly motel in Rotorua where our hosts have welcomed us warmly. Heavy rains last night, and in the forecast, have led us to request extra nights, and our hosts have agreed to extend our visit. Because I have neglected to keep up with the blog posts, I will split the events into two or more.

To pick up where I left off…

Day 29 (March 1): Auckland
Philip and Lynn Chatfield showed us their beautiful home and property in the daylight, and then Philip chauffeured us around to show us some great stops to the north of Auckland. We visited Mahurangi Regional Park (excellent viewpoint and secure Maori vantage point), the village of Puhoi, Parry Park and the McKinney Kauri tree, and then on to several other parks and beaches before heading home to beat the first wave of heavy rain that we have seen.

Day 30 (March 2): Auckland
Sandy helped Lynn move caterpillars and release Monarch Butterflies, and then Philip and Lynn drove us into Auckland to pick up our rental vehicle. On our own once again, we made our way across town to a motel near where our niece, Montana Mjaaland is staying. She will join us for a number of days of explorations north of Auckland. Montana and Sandy spend the evening on the internet mapping out travel plans.
Day 31 (March 3): Whangerai (n.b. “wh” is pronounced as “f”, and thus this city is “Fangerai”, and although I know “f”ere it is, I am not sure “f”y it is pronounced that way!)
The booking that we made on booking.com was listed as “Rural”, but the reality was way more rural than we expected. After 35 km of driving out of Whangerai, and the last 5 of it or so on very washboard gravel, our GPS announced “You have arrived.” The nearest house was behind us about a half kilometer. No house appeared ahead of us. After ranging up and down the gravel road a couple of times, we finally proceeded to the end of the road, and there was the house – a lone house overlooking a lovely pastoral scene (have you heard this before) – and a touch of ocean view down through the fields. Our host, John, showed us our accommodations and then left to return to work. We were very dismayed to discover that this was a B&B, and not the private suite that we had expected. We felt better at reducing our stay to 2 nights instead of 3 after we learned that we could only pay with cash.
We had a lunch and then hiked through the pastures, sidestepping cow-pies, to the beach in the distance, where we spent our first prolonged time sunbathing since we arrived down here. Since there was almost nobody else around, I was uncertain about currents, and so we stayed out of the water. By the time we headed back to our rooms, we had realized that our place was truly quite beautiful, if not what we expected. We met our other host, Amy, and 2 year old son, Harley. We like all three of them! Sandy declares that that night’s sleep was the best that she has had on this trip. Her initial disappointment has disappeared.

Day 32 (March 4): Whangerai
Visited the market in town, and then hiked the trails at Whangerai Falls. In the afternoon, we drove a bit further north through Tutukaka to Matapouri Bay. Again, we lay in the sun without swimming, but this time because of a slightly chilly breeze. Back at Whangerai, we had supper at The Fat Camel – a restaurant with excellent salads and falafels! (Since Montana is vegetarian, I have decided to forego meat while she is with us. All is good!)

Day 33 (March 5): Paihia and the Bay of Islands – in sunshine!
Sandy and Montana found us a cabin in Paihia, so we stop in Whangerai at a used book store for Sandy to buy more weighty tomes. En route to Paihia, Sandy declares that we must stop at the Kawakawa Toilets. (Notice the capital T! This is NOT just a pit stop! It is a tourist attraction – Google it!) Our hosts in Paihia show us to a beautiful cabin with a deck overlooking the fields below. This place is MORE than we bargained for, and Jim and Sylvia, our hosts are exceptionally helpful and welcoming.
In the afternoon we head out to look at Harura Falls, and then to the Waitanga Treaty Grounds where for $40 each, we are given a tour and opportunity to attend a Maori-hosted ceremony. This is a very beautiful place and we were all very glad to have visited it, even though closing time found us only part-way through touring the grounds, and seeing the amazing war canoes, museum and exhibits. At the end of a great day, Montana has decided to stay another day with us. YAY! We book a second night at the cabin.

Day 34 (March 6): Paihia and Russell Island in sunshine!
After catching the foot passenger ferry to Russell Island, we designed our own walking tour of the village. After a lunch in town, we climbed the hill over to the far side of the island where there is a typically inviting beach, and we sunbathed…and we swam. Then, we climbed an even steeper and higher hill to overlook the town below and Paihia in the distance. We catch the 5:00 ferry back to Paihia, buy a few groceries and make our supper at the cabin – again…vegetarian. We are sad that Montana has booked a morning bus back to Auckland.

But wait…there’s more…in the next posting! Y’all come back now…ya hear!
Love and best wishes for early Spring to all you winter-weary warriors!
Tony and Sandy