We finally took our first real road trip. We were away from the boat for one whole night! We left yesterday about mid-day. First thing first we checked on the outboard to see when its overhaul would be done and we'd have it back. Next stop was the post office to get the car registered and check on driver's licenses. We made a quick stop in KeriKeri for a pizza and then headed north into new land. First stop was Whangaroa. Not much to be found so we kept going. We stopped in Mangonui a small town in Doubtless Bay. We got a heritage trail map from the iSite and walked the 3k self-guided tour of historic buildings. We tried some of the local wine at a wine tasting center. The wine I tasted on the bus trip last week was much better.
After this we headed up toward Cape Reinga (the northern tip of the island). We thought it best to find a place to stay for the night before going any further so we pulled into a backpacker hostel about an hour south of Cape Reinga. The only room available was a shared room and at this point there was no one else in the room. We found out that there were no local restaurants and the closest store, probably 20 min back, would be closing in 40 min so we bought some pasta and sauce from the hostel "convenience store" which was a display case of food. We decided that since we were there we would just settle in for the night and not go any further. The only problem is that there was no internet so we had to find other ways to amuse ourselves (unfortunately we didn't our backgammon set which we play a lot). Mark had a digital book on his ipad he decided to read and I decided to cross-stitch and watch a movie that I had on my computer. There were three guys from Israel and two from the UK at the hostel but we couldn't really find much to chat about. About 8:45 we got two roommates. A guy and a girl that Mark found out had just met that day. All the boys stayed up until the wee hours with one of the guys from Israel playing every Pink Floyd song. I was able to sleep through it but it kept Mark up so he wasn't so happy when the guy in our room started snoring at 7am. Mark tried making some noise so the guy would roll over or something but it didn't work so I got up for my shower and realized that he was wearing ear phone. We had a quick breakfast of fruit cups (which luckily I had packed) and some coffee/tea and we were off. (Note to the ladies - always check the room before you leave when your man packs the car).
It was about an hour drive to Cape Reigna. The grounds were pretty and we walked out to the lighthouse. After this we drove back up the road to the campsite. I looked for a letterbox but didn't have nay luck. If it was there I would have had to dig through a ton of brush to find it. Off we went to the sand dunes which was probably the best part of the day. Somehow all this sand has somehow collected at the north end of NZ. It was a hard hike up the dunes, my calves were killing me when we got to the top, but it was well worth it. Some people had rented wake boards and sledded back down. Mark and I opted not to rent the boards and found it really fun to just run down.
At this point we were starting to get hungry so we headed south. At some point I mentioned how glad I was that we had brought our sleeping bags and pillows because it had been really cold the night before. Then I asked if Mark had grabbed the pillows that I had placed on the bed just above our sleeping bags. Nope (ladies remember what I said about checking after your man). Luckily we hadn't passed the hostel but it was a ways off the main road but we decided to go back anyhow.
After picking up the pillows we drove to Kaitaia for some lunch. There was a music shop and we have been thinking about getting a guitar so we took a look. There was one that seemed like a good deal but we decided to wait and think about the options. If anyone has any advice we'll take it. We have no idea what would be best for two beginners living on a boat! We had one more stop left for the day and it was getting a bit late. Mark navigated us the wrong way because he refused to look at the map and wanted to use the iphone which sent us in the right direction but a longer way. When we got to a town that had a junction to continue on or take the car ferry I was very glad that we stopped and looked at the map because the ferry was considerably shorter and had we gone the other way we probably would have just gone home since we would have been much closer.
We drove for awhile longer to Waiotemarama Gorge and did the loop hike to the waterfall. Luckily it is light here till about 8:00 because it was already after 5. If was a nice hike with a beautiful waterfall. And even though I slipped on my ass and almost broke my camera it was still worth it. It was finally time to head home but not before stopping in Paihia for a quick bit to eat.
All in all a successful first road trip with lots of sites and lots of miles behind us. I finally feel like we can leave the far north because we have actually seen something.
Today I went golfing with Dave from
Leu Cat (click Leu Cat to read his blog entry on the day) at the treaty grounds. Really beautiful course. It was a really fun time even though my game has definitely suffered from not playing. Mark hung out on the boat doing some computer stuff and procrastinating on engine work he should have been doing. He'll have to get it done tomorrow so that we can sail the next day.
Tip for the day: Keep a copy of your boat papers on your boat, and digitally if you can. We need to take our papers with us to customs but if something happens having a copy on the boat can be invaluable. All to often our copies are with our originals.
Click to see photos for this blog