Cows, Cape Reinga and the motorcycles

Wednesday 25 March. Sunny all day 24C Drove 336km

I hadn't appreciated that I was travelling with a 'Cow Spotter'. I had no idea that there were so many different varieties of cow on the planet. Now I know, because someone in the car can spot a Herefordshire or a Holstein at a 100 paces. I admit that there are lots of different coloured cows here, I just thought they had interbred, but no, they are all different. Jersey and Guernsey cows are next to Friesians, Aberdeen Angus and Belgian Blues, there are probably Limousins and Charlois cattle too. I'm starting to bone up on sheep and pig varieties now in order to keep ahead of the game.

Up early and out of the motel by 0830. After refuelling, we set of up to the northern end of North Island. The main road, now named the SH1F, for reasons I cannot explain (luckily they found no reason to use the suffix T), heads north from Kaitaia for 110km where it finally stops at Cape Reinga. Most of the road has a good surface, but last 18 is marked as gravel on the map. Most of the road up to Waitiki Landing is undulating, passing through miles of farmland, mainly with cows and sheep on with a few fruit farms as well. We did see a herd of deer on one farm and a 'flock' of emu on another. There are odd glimpses of the huge dunes to the west, and Houhora harbour, then Parengarenga harbour to the east, as we head north. One spit at Parengarenga is entirely silica and looks blindingly white from a distance.

Just beyond Waitiki Landing, the road ran out and we headed up the gravel. I had read that the tour buses drive up to the Cape along 90 mile beach and then join this gravel road for the last 18 km, but we saw no-one as we headed north. Suddenly, we came to roadworks, they are trying to surface the road all the way up. Apart from one short stretch, where the grading machine had just ripped up the gravel, the surface was smooth for mud and gravel. After 11 km of gravel, the road was surfaced again, what bliss!


As we arrived at the carpark at Cape Reinga, a small tour bus was just heading off, this left only 4 or 5 cars and a motorbike! The area is sacred to the Maori as this is where the spirits of the dead climb down the roots of an old pohutukawa tree and leave the island to return to their spritual homeland of Hawaiiki. In respect of this, no food or drink are to be consumed here. The path down to the lighthouse at the cape, has boards explaining the significance of the area to the Maori. There were very few people down at the lighthouse and the views out to the Three Kings Islands 60km north. Although Cape Reinga is not the most northerly point of mainland New Zealand, it is the most northerly accessible point. Below the lighthouse, the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea meet and the crashing of waves and chaotic swirling waters clearly show the two coming together.

Back up in the carpark, things were hotting up. Quite a few more cars had arrived along with about 30 motorbikes, we guessed it was a club out for a day trip. If we were correct, then it was a very big club. As we headed back down the road we passed loads more bikes heading north, maybe even hundred of bikes. The coaches had started to put in an appearance too, we congratulated ourselves on our excellent timing before driving as quickly as possible back 100km down the road.

At the foot of the peninsular at Awahui, we turned east along the north coast. A stop was made at Taipa for lunch at a motel, it looked quite nice but one of the staff serving lunch was particularly scary! Cable Bay, Coopers Beach and Manganui were only a few kilometres beyond Taipa and we started the hunt for accommodation. We found a nice spot, but the sign on the door said, "Back in an hour". It was difficult to know exactly when the might be, could be 5 minutes, could be 55! We headed 30km down the coast to Whangaroa, a small harbour nestled in amongst headlands and mangrove swamps. A very pretty little place, but no-where we fancied staying or eating, so back to Manganui again.

This time the owner of the San Marina was in. His reason for his earlier absence was easily explained, he had seen a fish jumping out in the bay, and suddenly got the urge to go fishing. He had popped out in his kayak with a rod and come back with a 12lb Snapper. The motel was right on the beach, the expression here is, "Absolute Beachfront", and a delightfully peaceful spot. It is really in Coopers Beach, but is hidden down behind a headland, in amongst some beautiful houses. The only sound here is the sea.

The beach beckoned, and after wandering just a few yards from our bedroom, we were on the beach. The sea was a little cool, but swimming was good anyway. Back to the patio ourside our room to sunbathe, dry off and look at a fabulous view.

Later, we drove back into Manganui, all of 2 minutes for dinner. Manganui is a very pretty fishing village lined with historic buildings. It is most famous these days for its Fish Shop and restaurant, people come from miles to eat there. It was busy, so we headed a couple hundred metres up the road to the Fresh and Tasty fish and chip take-away. The food here is equally good, very lightly battered harbour fresh fish and chips served in paper. Our cheapest dinner so far, $NZ 11. Just around the corner was the historic Manganui Hotel, where we downed a couple of beers.