Today we are heading for Dargaville for a night via the Waipoua Forest. We are going to see Tane Mahuta – The Lord of the forest - a 2000 year old Kauri tree with a girth of 13.8 meters. After Dargaville we drive on to Auckland where we hand back the car with our 5500 kilometres on it and our last night in NZ prior to our flight to Melbourne in Australia the following day.
The start didn’t quite go to plan as we visited the local Pak n Save for a few things where every other resident of Kaitaia appeared to be so we were there quite a while. We then went for some gas, as did everyone else and eventually got away. Another ferry had to encountered today and after a reasonable crossing a final sharp left into dock didn’t go down too well with Mrs D’s digestive system…
First stop was Tane Mahuta, which I have to say has to be seen to be believed. I have never seen a tree so big it was a real wow moment!!
We then drove down through the Waipoua forest towards Dargaville stopping for a lunch break at a forest viewpoint where all we could see was solid rain. We got to our small but cosy digs – Greenhouse Backpackers – which was a converted primary school. After a wander into a quiet town we dined then sorted through our stuff to try to minimise it for the plane. It also gave me a chance to catch up on a few days blogging.
Away by 9.30 next day we stopped off at a Kauri Museum on the way into Auckland. It was very good not just displaying trees and gifts but lots of old photos, workshops and told the story of the human side to the trade. More horrendous NZ driving antics were then experienced on the way down SH1. We got into Auckland around 2.30ish and found the digs – the Brown Kiwi – fairly easily. More than could be said for finding the car rental drop off!!
The digs were OK for Auckland but we were only in transit and sleeping there. In the evening we met some friends of my brother who have been out in NZ for a couple of years. They seemed quite happy with Auckland and the move away from the UK. It was a very good evening spent chatting in a Belgian beer café. This meant no real ales but it was a good place to sit and chat. They served Hoegarden in huge glasses like buckets and all the other lagers came in small, medium or large most interesting. I had a couple of buckets of Hoegarden and Mrs D tried one too. Apart from there being too much in the glass it wasn’t very popular with her either so I finished it off. Anyway, the evening went very well and those lovely people offered us a bed the next time we were to be in town which we may well have to consider…..
Our airport shuttle picked us up at 0450 the next day and we were all checked in by 0600. The flight left on time at 0750 and went OK. Super views over Taranaki and the Tongariro volcanoes as we flew out. Australia was just under four hours away and a new adventure was about to begin.
We were sad to be leaving NZ, not particularly the north island as our hearts lie with the south. We found ourselves in the last few days on north island saying when we are here next we will go here, do this and not bother with there so I would like to think we will be coming here again. We have had a wonderful time, met some lovely people, seen some of the best scenery we will probably see and been extremely lucky with the weather. Australia has it’s work cut out to beat what we’ve had, seen and done so far.
North Island facts – driven 2562kms, stayed in 10 different places over 19 nights. Sun shone every day but two. Longest drive between digs was Thames to Pahaia at 226kms and shortest was Picton on South Island to Wellington on the North Island at 23kms + ferry. Best digs were Wainui Lodge in Russell, worst was Sunset Lodge in Taupo. Favourite place was Tongariro National Park and least favourite was Kataia. Best host was Ron at Wainui Lodge, the worst were the guys at Sunkist Lodge in Thames who have a bit of a curt reputation.
Pix are – ferry across the bay – Opononi beach – Tane Mahuta (see the folks at the front) – info – digs at Dargaville – 2 from the kauri museum.
The start didn’t quite go to plan as we visited the local Pak n Save for a few things where every other resident of Kaitaia appeared to be so we were there quite a while. We then went for some gas, as did everyone else and eventually got away. Another ferry had to encountered today and after a reasonable crossing a final sharp left into dock didn’t go down too well with Mrs D’s digestive system…
First stop was Tane Mahuta, which I have to say has to be seen to be believed. I have never seen a tree so big it was a real wow moment!!
We then drove down through the Waipoua forest towards Dargaville stopping for a lunch break at a forest viewpoint where all we could see was solid rain. We got to our small but cosy digs – Greenhouse Backpackers – which was a converted primary school. After a wander into a quiet town we dined then sorted through our stuff to try to minimise it for the plane. It also gave me a chance to catch up on a few days blogging.
Away by 9.30 next day we stopped off at a Kauri Museum on the way into Auckland. It was very good not just displaying trees and gifts but lots of old photos, workshops and told the story of the human side to the trade. More horrendous NZ driving antics were then experienced on the way down SH1. We got into Auckland around 2.30ish and found the digs – the Brown Kiwi – fairly easily. More than could be said for finding the car rental drop off!!
The digs were OK for Auckland but we were only in transit and sleeping there. In the evening we met some friends of my brother who have been out in NZ for a couple of years. They seemed quite happy with Auckland and the move away from the UK. It was a very good evening spent chatting in a Belgian beer café. This meant no real ales but it was a good place to sit and chat. They served Hoegarden in huge glasses like buckets and all the other lagers came in small, medium or large most interesting. I had a couple of buckets of Hoegarden and Mrs D tried one too. Apart from there being too much in the glass it wasn’t very popular with her either so I finished it off. Anyway, the evening went very well and those lovely people offered us a bed the next time we were to be in town which we may well have to consider…..
Our airport shuttle picked us up at 0450 the next day and we were all checked in by 0600. The flight left on time at 0750 and went OK. Super views over Taranaki and the Tongariro volcanoes as we flew out. Australia was just under four hours away and a new adventure was about to begin.
We were sad to be leaving NZ, not particularly the north island as our hearts lie with the south. We found ourselves in the last few days on north island saying when we are here next we will go here, do this and not bother with there so I would like to think we will be coming here again. We have had a wonderful time, met some lovely people, seen some of the best scenery we will probably see and been extremely lucky with the weather. Australia has it’s work cut out to beat what we’ve had, seen and done so far.
North Island facts – driven 2562kms, stayed in 10 different places over 19 nights. Sun shone every day but two. Longest drive between digs was Thames to Pahaia at 226kms and shortest was Picton on South Island to Wellington on the North Island at 23kms + ferry. Best digs were Wainui Lodge in Russell, worst was Sunset Lodge in Taupo. Favourite place was Tongariro National Park and least favourite was Kataia. Best host was Ron at Wainui Lodge, the worst were the guys at Sunkist Lodge in Thames who have a bit of a curt reputation.
Pix are – ferry across the bay – Opononi beach – Tane Mahuta (see the folks at the front) – info – digs at Dargaville – 2 from the kauri museum.
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