We are just home from
another Hokianga foray. I wrote to my son's wife: "Cant wait to tell you
about our recent trip. Perhaps at last we have found a Northland beach
Brady may not know: Waimamaku. Pristine. Ideal for kids to swim in
lagoon. Amazing conglomerate rocks on beach. River entrance good for
boat launching on the difficult west coast . Popular with local surfies
who own much of the hinterland.
Thirty minutes slow drive away to the east and we are at the foot of a
cascade in lovely, very diverse and lush forest: Waiotemaramama. Local
identity Louis Toorenburg dropped his work pruning his native forest
maze to escort us: an honour . [ Naia wld love it ; and him: kids
really believe he is father Christmas 'cos in his adjacent workshop he
makes very fine puzzle toys from wood and is a vast bearded barrel of
laughs attended by his sweet small wife Sue = Mary Xmas...]
After our forest walk up the river gorge on a well constructed DOC track,
lined with orchids, NZ gloxinia sprinkled with its orange trumpet flowers,
fragrant mairehau and Kirks daisy and getting exceptionally nice pix of the
torrent surrounded by a finery of delicate native plants : rengarenga in
flower; iridescent parataniwha and even the rare Pratia with delicate deep
green foliage a bit like very tender dock leaves and usually grazed off by
pests, we sat in unbelievably comfy hammock seats on their elevated porch,
with views of the forest valley soaring up to big kauris on the ridge and
sipping coffee with Jan's choc muffins as Louis fed a rooster in his lap
and peacocks stood on the verandah rail fr Jan to focus in on emerald
bright feathers. Then back through the winding forest gorge to Opononi.
There, after dining up on Signal Station Head as dusk pix of the huge
golden sand dune lined up, we stayed the night at House of Harmony
backpackers. Excellent accomodation too in what seems, a very tidy house..
Yesterday across the harbour on the vastness of North Head in blinding heat
we climbed to the ridge line. Utterly exhausting. But breath-taking
panoramic views of the whole harbour and Saharan landscape. Arriving up
there on the shade free sky line with no wind I had to bury myself in sand
to take a spell and avoid sunburn. Then, fortunately, cloud cover
brought relief. We still cant get Jan's camera repaired: it has been
months but she did very well with mine, on the amazing rock formations sand
blasted by the four winds.
Because the Hokianga Express did not leave until ten [in holiday
season it starts at 7-30] we filled in the early morn at Rawene. What an
exquisite place that is on a fine, mirror calm summer morn. We explored
the winding mangrove boardwalk again with the most magic lighting and I
got a nice pic of a pair of white face herons grooming on a mangrove
branch above me. Each time their heads were buried in feathers I could
take a pace closer. It really worked! Back on the road we met a young
Maori mother pushing an elaborate baby buggy and singing to him as they
travelled the tree-lined route. Pohutukawas are just beginning to bloom.
We exchanged pleasantries.
In the morning main street of Ferry Town, as I was taking pix of a
long Maori canoe on the grass verge while nearby a fruit shop owner was
setting up his wares on a street edge stand, Jan awaiting me in the car,
we heard a shining cuckoo and all of us smiled with pleasure. How many towns
have deep forest birds in the main street? The cop shop nearby is
surrounded with flowers and shrubs..
On our way home we side tracked just past Kaikohe to do a tour right around
Lake Omapere , biggest in the north, and got a panoramic stitch of the
entire lake looking east. Only from the west side can you get an elevated
view of the whole lake. I believe it is a former volcano crater.