Thursday 28th January 2010
After breakfast we decided that we would set off for the day but took overnight clothing with us just in case. We headed up Highway 1 through Auckland for Whangerei, pronounced Fangeray. After driving for well over an hour, we saw a turn off for a small village called Puhoi. It looked a bit of a ‘one horse town’ but had a bar that sold coffee and so we sat outside to enjoy the hot sunshine. In a shady corner near to the entrance door was a picnic table with a sign above that said, BULLSHIT CORNER. Presumably this is where the locals sit and discuss their affairs but when someone talks bullshit, another person rings a bell to announce it to everyone else in the bar. Could do with one of those at our club, the bell would never stop ringing.
After coffee, we walked to the bottom of the road and took a few photo’s. We then stood on the bridge that passed over a small river. It was obviously tidal and the tide must have been out as there was a small amount of water in the middle whilst the edges leading up to the banks comprised of wet sticky mud. At this point, Kath decided to play her ace card and drop her walking stick from the top of the bridge, through the railings and down into the water below. Somehow, the bottom of the stick stuck in the mud and so it rested at an angle with the handle slightly above the water. After a few expletives and a certain amount of laughter, some workmen who were resting from the hot sun under a tree on the river bank came to our rescue. One of them got a large strap with a hook on the end, the type used for holding things down onto large trailers, and tried to hook the handle of the stick from on top of the bridge. The bridge was about 5 - 6 metres high and there was a slight breeze blowing under the roadway and every time the man got somewhere near to hooking it, the strap blew to one side. It was like one of those impossible games at the fairground where you win a stuffed dog if you are lucky. By this time, there was an audience of several people, all willing him on and he eventually got a hold of the handle and moved it to the side only to lose it again and it dropped sideways in the mud. One of his intrepid friends then made his way down the embankment but said that he wasn’t going to step onto the mud as he would be swallowed up by it and most likely drown when the tide came in. He took hold of the strap that was still dangling over the edge of the bridge and his mate held it tight as he stretched across the mud and managed to rescue the stick which gained him a big round of applause and comments such as,’ well done bro’ and good on ya bro’ (everyone is ’bro’ to the Pacific Islanders, whether the person is their brother or not). We offered to buy them a drink for their efforts but they refused to accept and so we cleaned it up the best we could and went on our way.
We travelled through some very nice scenery and upon arrival in Whangerei, we ate our sandwiches that we had made at Darren and Maxine’s earlier that morning and took out the trusty wheelchair for a tour of the harbour area. Very picturesque but not a great deal more to the town other than the harbour and a few museums and gardens. We stopped for coffee at a harbour side café then made our way back to the car to explore the road out towards Whangerei Heads. The road is dotted with mangroves and pohutakawa trees and we stopped to take photo’s at various locations along the way such as Parua Bay, McLeod Bay, Reotahi, Tauikura and Urquart Bay. At the end of this 29km road is Ocean Beach, which, as the title suggests, is facing the open Ocean, unlike the many bays we have encountered around North Island. We parked the car at the end of a pathway that led to a spectacular beach with Pacific rollers pounding the shoreline. We had a hell of a job trying to get the wheelchair along the path as the wheels kept getting stuck in the sand that had blown across the path from the dunes. That was without Kath sat in it ! We eventually struggled onto the beach and collapsed in the folding beach chairs we had loaded into the wheelchair. The weather was very hot with hardly a cloud in the sky and we both dozed off for a short period. After an hour or so, we made our way back to the car and followed the road back to Whangerei. Unfortunately, there isn’t an alternative route as the 29kms comes to an end at the Ocean and goes nowhere else.
We decided to drive further north to the Bay of Islands. We had heard that it was stunning scenery and although we are here now, we haven’t had chance to explore much as we didn‘t arrive until after 8pm, but judging by what we have seen from our base for tonight at the Bayview Motel in Paihia, we will not be disappointed . There are many boat trips from the harbour and I am looking forward to what tomorrow may bring.
We have been out tonight and enjoyed a pizza and drink at Frank’s on the harbour front but what is strange about NZ is that the bars tend to close early, even here at what is a popular holiday resort. Frank’s was probably the last to close and that wasn’t much after 11pm. I’m not bothered though as I have just finished watching Andy Murray beat Marian Cillic in the Aussie tennis semi-final.
Maxine has been in touch tonight and she has booked a table for a meal at the Sky Tower in Auckland tomorrow night at 9pm. As yet, we haven’t a clue when we will be leaving here but we have covered almost 400kms today and it will be at least 4 hours back to Auckland …. We will have to see. The other worrying thing, which is more important, is that Dad is back in hospital again. He didn’t sound too good when we spoke to him yesterday but it appears he is having more breathing problems. We just hope that they can sort him out quickly. Keep us informed Vicki, if you are reading this later tonight and we will speak to you tomorrow at some stage.
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