An excellent time up North.

  We had been having a lovely time at Otamure Bay but we decided we had better move on and check out some other spots.  We hitched up the rig and headed off towards Bland Bay on the Russell road.  It took us about an hour and a half with the rig on and we drove through Bland Bay itself and climbed up the hill and over into Puriri Bay which is another DOC camp right on the beach.  There were two other campers there, both from Tauranga and travelling together.  One of them had a 5th wheeler as well.

Waterside at Puriri Bay.

   We set up about 5 metres from the water and felt right at home from the start.  This is my sort of place.  It was very sheltered so it was great for getting the kayak out for a fish.  The facilities were well maintained and were being managed by Craig and Paulette who were running the Otamure camp. The camp was situated inside the Whangaruru harbour so there was no swell but it didn't take long for me to find out there were some nice fish to be caught very handy to camp. Also the rocks at either end of the bay were absolutely covered in oysters by the thousands so they received a few visits by me while we were there.
   The weather was starting to get a bit milder as well so it was really nice to get the chairs out and sit out in the sun in front of the rig. But as you know I can't sit around for too long without getting bored so I was into the kayak with a softbait tied on and off up the harbour where there were a few gannets diving.  It wasn't long and I had the first snapper on board and then over the next hour or so I had a lot of fun with fish on and at least 3 good fish lost after the hook pulled.  There were some very good sized snapper out here in the shallow water.
 And on day two we were entertained by a pod of orca who came in on the tide to feed.   They spent 3 or 4 hours cruising the upper reaches then came back down on the ebb tide. There were 2 large males with the high dorsals and were very impressive to watch when they surfaced to breath.

Quality table fish.

They don't come much fresher.

 Over the next few days I really enjoyed the fishing.  The fish were sometimes hard to find or they weren't biting but then out of the blue you would get a strike that would turn the kayak and have you being towed at a good speed through the harbour. Being so shallow, the snapper didn't have any depth to fight in so they just took off and towed you. It was great fun.  And the bonus being we always had fish to eat and I supplied the other campers as well.  Jocelyn also came out for a few paddles and saw a few snapper landed while we were out there.  I never could leave my rod behind.
 

Getting to like my kayak.

Hard fighting snapper.

  The camp itself is very picturesque with a fair bit of wildlife thrown in to the mix.  There were rabbits everywhere.  A short 20 metre walk to the loo you could see 7 or 8 rabbits.  Also there were quail and ducks almost under your feet and the seagulls would wake you every morning with their squabbling. And there were tuis all through the bush as the kowhai trees were in flower. Also after a day of rain the beautiful white clematis flowers appeared all through the bush.  With the bright yellow of the kowhai then the white spray of the  clematis it was visually spectacular.
 

A small clematis.

The lovely kowhai.

  There is two good walks you can access from the camp.  The first one I did was when I already had plenty of fish in the fridge and the neighbours fridge as well so I couldn't really go fishing.  It was a lovely bush walk that started off through farm land then climbed up through the bush to the other side of the peninsula.  I arrived at a cliff top overlooking a lovely bay with the waves breaking on the rocks below.  Then the track headed off up a series of steps through the bush and climbed up to a high point then back around onto the farm again and back to camp.     Probably about an hour and a half all up.  I did this track twice more over the next few days and then Jocelyn joined me and we did the other one around to the Bland Bay lookout which also took about an hour and a half.
   We really enjoyed Puriri Bay but after about ten days, the last couple with a fair bit of rain we decided to move on again.  We continued on the road to Russell then turned off and took the ferry over to Opua.  It cost $35.00 all up for the ute and rig for the short crossing but it saves a lot of driving.  After following the road to Paihia we decided to stop for a late breakfast or early lunch.  Paihia is a pretty little town very much set up for the tourist trade.  The Bay Of Islands have so much to offer with the sandy beaches,  islands dotted every where you look and just the natural beauty of the area.  There are all sorts of tours to take on water or land and of course there is Waitangi, where a lot of our early history stems from.
  Jocelyn and I carried on to Kerikeri where we set up by the RSA for a while.  We met another couple there with a 5th wheeler who had just bought a section in Paihia to build on.  Pete was a builder so he was going to be busy for a while and probably not going to be travelling much.
    The next day dawned fine so we decided to head back to Waitangi and have a look around the treaty grounds.   We ended up joining a guided tour for $20.00 each which we found very informative and entertaining.  The weather was great with the sun shining and the outlook from the treaty grounds is amazing, looking out over the bay towards Russell and the islands further out.   You could feel the history of the place even though we are a relatively young country, and the more information we took in the more we could feel it.  After the tour around the grounds we went back in and went into the museum which we also found very interesting and informative.  Arriving back in Kerikeri we both thought we had had a good day.

The flag pole at Waitangi.Russellin the background.

Jocelyn outside the Waka shelter.

    From Kerikeri we decided to cross over to the west coast and go and look at some real big kauri trees.  We were't to be disappointed.  First we travelled down the Hokianga through Opononi and Omapere heading for the Waipoua Forest and eventually  onto the Kaipara Harbour district at Matakohe.  We first hauled up at Opononi and had lunch and a coffee on the side of the road.  The harbour here is beautiful looking across the water at the huge white sand dunes.  Opononi was made famous in the summer of 1955-56 when a friendly dolphin arrived to swim with the children in the shallows of the harbour.   This dolphin appeared every day right through the summer and was called Opo by the hoards of visitors attracted to the area.   Sadly it wasn't to last as  at the end of summer Opo was found dead on one of the beaches along the bay.

Opononi

   After lunch we went for a walk along the harbour then back in the truck and off to see Tane Mahuta in Waipoua Forest.   This famous kauri tree is a few minutes walk in from the main road and it is such a majestic sight.  I'm sure I could sit for an hour and just stare at this tree in wonder.  Stately only begins to describe this monolith.  It is estimated to be around 1200 years old and stands around 52 metres tall with a girth of around 14 metres.  Just amazing.

Tane Mahuta.

  After this we were keen to see more so we went to Trounson Kauri Park to stay the night which is a small Doc camp about 8 kms off the main road.  The book says not suitable for large vehicles but the locals reckoned she'd be fine so off we went.  When we got there it was just angle parking for vans and motorhomes but we got inventive and managed to squeeze in across ways at one end and hope not too many other campers arrived.  There is a loop track leading into the bush from the camp and after we set the camp up I headed off for a walk.  It wasn't long and I was coming across very impressive trees that had obviously been around a long time.  Not far in there is a tree there that is considered the oldest in New Zealand at approximately 2000 years old.  We were to find out later that there were older and larger ones around in earlier times but they were now gone.
   Trounson Park apparently has around 40 pairs of brown kiwi living in it's environs so you can go for night walks and see if any can be seen.   It was raining when I left the camper later that night and after about an hour and a half of  sneaking quietly along with the red filter on my torch I had seen nothing although I may have heard a couple moving around.  It was quite hard to see through the undergrowth in some areas.   I was up early and off for another walk and later before we left Jocelyn came for a walk  as well.   Kauri dieback disease is a real problem in these forests and is killing a large number of trees.  Steps are being taken to protect the kauri but time will tell how effective these steps will be.
   When we left Trounson park the plan was to head to Matakohe and check out the Kauri museum there.   But about 8kms down the road we stopped for a look at a business selling all sorts of kauri products from bowls to sculptures and then a room full of very high end furniture that was just stunning.  The prices were right up there too and out of our price range but really lovely.

Stunning sculpture at kauri museumAdd caption

Joc inside a kauri stump.

   So back on the road again and we arrived at Matakohe around 3pm.  It cost $25.00 each to enter the museum but we were told we could overnight out in the parking lot as we would need more time in the morning to cover everything inside.  And we could get back in on the same ticket.   The whole museum was fascinating and we were buzzing after our 3 hours that afternoon.  It covers a lot of history of the early days of milling and gum digging and the hard men who worked back in that era.  The trees themselves were highlighted in many ways and also a lot of the early families who settled in these areas and made a harsh living either from the farms or the bush.
  We were parked right outside the door so we settled back in with a wine and a beer and got the webber out and cooked a couple of nice steaks with a lovely salad and had a very pleasant evening.  Next morning I was up early and wandered through the cemetery across the road, and met a lot of the names I had been reading about in the museum.  After breakfast we were back inside again and wandered around for another hour and a half.
   We got back on the road again and headed across to leigh and booked into the Whangateau camping ground for one night.  This is a pretty little camp right on the estuary although it was raining again.  The facilities were first class and immaculately maintained.  The plan was for me to go snorkeling at Goat Island marine reserve.  The weather wasn't great but I expected to get wet anyway so away we went.  The snorkeling turned out really good although the visibility wasn't great.  I was being escorted around the bay by a group of nice size snapper and then you would see a large shape appear out of the gloom and a snapper I would estimate around 25lb would be cruising across in front of you.  Red moki were everywhere and when I dived down I found a number of large crayfish in the cracks and crevices.  All totally safe being a reserve.  Sometimes it's nice to just look.   Next it was off to Auckland to meet up with Dane and Laurie for dinner as the next day Dane turned 34 years of age.  We had a lovely evening catching up and seeing all the work that they had been doing around their place.
  Well we have had a great trip to Northland and now it's back home to do a bit of work around the house.