Cape Reinga

April 20th was Dave's birthday so we had a cookout party at our friends house. We had a really great time and enjoyed being with friends. After a couple day's recuperation from Dave's Birthday celebrations, we decided to go see Cape Reinga on April 23rd. We drove up north, which takes about 3 hours and made only a couple pit stops. The first was to see the remnants of the Kauri gum diggers. It was  a quick stop, but it gave us a chance to stretch our legs and learn a little history too. Basically the gum (sap) was collected and used for varnishes and had great value, so it was extracted from the ground. We enjoyed our drive north in the nice sunny weather, and stopped to see 90 mile beach on the west coast. It's a beautiful wide flat beach that permits road traffic. Back on the road, we continued on to Cape Reinga. While most people think it is the most northern point in New Zealand, it actually is not. North Cape, just slightly farther north but not accessible by the public, is the true most northern point. However Cape Reinga fills in as the most northern point since it is a welcoming spot for visitors. The lighthouse and coast are certainly amazing, but the real beauty lies within the beliefs around the cape. The Maori believe the spirits of the dead travel to the cape on their journey to the afterlife. There is an 800 year old tree clinging to the side of a rocky peak whose roots are used as stairs by the spirits to descend into the water and continue on to the underworld. It was a beautiful place and a joy to visit. The park and grounds are all kept very nice and there is plenty of information and history.

Tutukaka Coast

On Wednesday April 17th, we went down to the Tutukaka coast to explore. This is a pristine area on the east coast, about an hour and a half south of us. We first went on the Whangamumu Bay - Ngunguru Estuary Walkway. The only problem was, I don't think we ever actually found the walkway. The description online stated you should go around low tide as it is a coastal walk and some areas are only accessible at low tide. Well we went close to low tide and looked in many areas for the start of the track. We eventually just followed the rocks around the beach and had a really enjoyable hour climbing from one rocky outcrop to the next. We don't know what the right way was, but we liked our way. After our rocky adventure we continued on the road to the Tutukaka Headland Lighthouse Walkway. This spot was so amazingly beautiful. The water was gorgeous, the land was amazing, there was no one around, and it was a challenge to get to. We had to walk down a steep set of 180 steps to cross over a rocky spot connecting the mainland to a little (but very tall) island where the lighthouse and lookout were. It was a steep climb up the island trail, but once we were to the top it was worth it. It was such a nice lookout over the Pacific ocean and the Tutukaka Coast. The lighthouse at the top was small, but served an important purpose. It was all run on solar energy which is great to see. We sat and enjoyed for awhile before heading back down. We weren't in a rush knowing we had to hike back up all those steps and a hill on the other side. We made it back to the car and hit the road. We drove up the coast and stopped at a great surf spot, Woolleys Bay, and watched the action for a few minutes. The waves were big and clean and the surfers were certainly enjoying themselves. Tutukaka Coast was a great day and one of the more peaceful, desolate day trips we've gone on.

Parengarenga Harbour Fishing

On Friday we drove north to meet our friend/guide Marty at his house in Houhora for an overnight land-based fishing trip. We loaded everything up in his van and hit the road with his boat in tow. We went to Parengarenga Harbour, out onto Maori land. We had to stop on the way to pay $20 for a key to open the gate for access to the land. We were out on a flat open peninsula, with a beautiful view of harbour, ocean, sand dunes, and farmlands. Once we were there we unloaded and put the boat into the water. We headed out to catch snapper for dinner. We drove the boat across the harbour and onto a beach, scaring off some wild horses on the land. The beach we were on had remnants from the mining days. Years ago in this area they mined some type of mineral used to make asbestos. It was mined and loaded onto barges, then sent out of the harbor. There was an old barge rusting away on the beach and some old parts of buildings. It was pretty interesting to think that years ago there would have been loads of people working in this area and now it is a deserted beach that the environment is slowly converting back to the way it was. The waves and weather are slowly breaking up the barge, as the wind and sand work together to cover everything. We caught dinner and headed back to camp. We set up a makeshift tent using a tarp. We pulled it off the top of the van like a lean-to and used a fishing net to hold it up off the ground. While it was a bit ghetto, we used what we had! We cooked up our fish for dinner and set up our beds under the tarp. We sat around our fire for a bit and ate, then Marty played harmonica for awhile. It was a very peaceful place to be and a clear sky allowed us to see all the stars above. The next morning we woke up and got ready to head out

fishing. We took the boat across the harbour again, but this time headed out into the ocean. Once we were through the break we stopped at a rocky point to fish. We unloaded our fishing supplies and got to it. Even though Dave was fighting the waves crashing into him over the rocks, he still managed to catch a great 30 pound kingfish. We stayed in that spot about 45 minutes, then headed out since the tide was coming in and the swell was a bit hard to fight. Our next spot was way back into the harbour in a calm spot on a rocky beach. We caught some bait and started our fishing. There we caught a John Dory for our first time ever. Even though it was only a few pounds, it was a great size for the species, and exciting for us. Dave also caught a 40 pound kingfish in this spot, which put up a good fight. We ate lunch and packed up after several hours. We then stopped at a shell bank to spend a few minutes casting along the edge to see if anything was around. Even though there was no bite there, it was a pretty cool spot. It was like a sand bar sticking out of the water at low tide, but rather than sand, the entire 100 yard long, 5 foot wide bank was solid shells. Next we headed over to another beautiful beach and fished the rest of the day. We didn't get any more kingfish but we did catch a couple snapper in that spot. We headed in just before dark and packed up. After a very full day of land based fishing, we were ready to head home. We had such a great time. It's always nice to catch fish, but its even better to see more spectacular places in New Zealand.

Three Kings

Friday April 5th Dave left on "Back In Black", a 60 ft boat that he worked on a bit last year, to head to the Three Kings Islands. This group of islands is about 35 miles northwest of Cape Reinga, the most northern point of New Zealand's mainland accessible by car, where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea meet. The first night they anchored in North Cape and in the morning they began trolling toward the Three Kings. Three nights were spent at Three Kings, with tons of fishing. They caught 2 striped marlin while up there, along with 1 mahi mahi, and several squid. 

The area is teeming with wildlife. They saw several really cool species of birds including the Mollymawk, a type of albatross with wingspan from 6 to 8 1/2 feet wide. They also saw 4 types of whales, Pilot, Blue, Pygmy Right, and Killer. On Tuesday they began cruising back south and hooked up on a third stripped marlin near Cape Kari Kari . This one was the biggest of the trip weighing in at 346 pounds. After landing this one, they took the boat into Whangaroa Harbour to weigh in. Jill drove up about an hour to meet them for the weigh in. Once the fish was down

from the scales, we all celebrated. We took the boat over to Kingfish Lodge, a bar/restaurant/lodge on a nearby island. We hung out at the lodge and stayed overnight on the boat tied up to their dock. It was a great fishing trip for Dave. Last year there were plans to go to the Three Kings several times, but the weather never allowed it, so this was a much appreciated trip. The owner of the boat, Greg, had a perfect trip and enjoyed having Dave as crew, and Jill as a guest on the last night. On Wednesday the guys brought the boat back to Opua and concluded the trip. Success!

SOME OF THE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT NZ, and some I don't...

THE GOOD

• Full Service Gas Stations - Other people pumping your gas for you, and washing your windows! Why did the US stop having these?
• The Collective Dairy Yoghurt - It's not cheap, but it's the best yoghurt I've ever had, hands down. Especially the mango flavor!
• Trails/Tracks - There are endless places to hike and explore, and they are all well maintained.
• Energy Conservation - Even though every household has a dryer, everyone line dries their laundry. No need to use air conditioners, just roll your car windows down and open the doors/windows in your house.
• Meat Pies - The name says it all!
• Farmers Markets and Road Side Stalls - They are everywhere. I can stop and get unattended avacados on the side of the road and put my money in an "honesty box".
• Lamb - Yummy
• Pavlova - A delicious desert. You will not be disappointed.
• Unlocked iPhones - New Zealand is one of the only countries in the world that does not lock their phones. I can buy one here and use it anywhere.
• The Fishing - World Class

And the not so great

• Road Work - It occurs often here. The roads are only two lanes to begin with, so one way traffic is common. 
• Shopping - It's very limited, especially in the rural north.
• Cost of beer/liquor - A 12 pack will run you about $25. Liquor is about triple the price from the states. Wine; now that's affordable.
• Internet Data - I don't even know what a megabyte or gigabyte will get me, but they charge for each one here! 
• Mountain Roads - They are swirly, twirly, and whirly. Barf!
• Allergies - Lots of gorgeous landscape means lots of pollen.
• Media - It's about 3 months behind. 
• Medicine - It's expensive and the selection sucks! No Tylenol PM here. No Alavert. No huge "Sam's" or "Costco" size bottles. You can get some things over the counter that would be prescription in the states though. 

Black Rocks Dive

 Monday was the last day Libertas was in town, so one of the owners wanted to go out for one last fishing trip on it. The boat is going to Auckland to be sold, since a new boat is being built. Jill was invited to ride along, as Dave was working. We didn't catch any marlin, but we did have a great day on the water. The weather was awesome and the seas were calm. On Tuesday Dave went out fishing with Vinnie and his brother, and the ladies went exploring. The guys got skunked and came back completely starved because they forgot their lunches in the truck. They were out from 7 in the morning until about 6 at night, so they survived on just beer for 11 hours. All day they were planning who they were going to eat, and I think "The American" was chosen to be sacrificed. LOL!          

Meanwhile the girls were enjoying a bottle of wine at a local winery, Marsden Estate, and laughing that the guys were complaining. On Wednesday afternoon Dave, Jill, and Vinnie went out on the boat to dive for crays (Lobster). We went out to black rocks, and threw anchor. Jill stayed onboard with the dog, Gauge, as a lifeguard for safety. The first dive was about 40 minutes and the guys got 3 crays and about 40 green lipped mussels. We then switched spots and they went down for a second dive. This time they were down about 50 minutes and didn't get any crays. They did see a couple, but they were to small. They did however have a fabulous dive. This was the first time Dave has dove the Southern Hemisphere and he really enjoyed it. Everything is volcanic in this area, so the ocean floor has tons of caves, boulders, rock walls, etc. They did a bit of exploring on the second dive and really had a good time. 

Easter 2013

Easter morning we drove south and east out onto a coastal peninsula, Whangarei Heads, for a scenic hike. We hiked from the beach, through a cow pasture, and past an old military outpost. We then continued along to a nice bay in Bream Head Scenic Reserve. On our last leg back to the car, we passed quite a few cows. Dave decided to feed them our apple cores. One cow wasn't interested much and let his drop to the ground. The next cow ate his right up, and after we walked away he got a little frisky and started coming toward us. I guess he wanted more. We continued on our way and ended our hike. Then we drove the 1 1/2 hours home and had a nice dinner with our landlords and their daughter. It was a great social , Easter sunday meal with good people. We even got chocolate cadbury bunnies for easter from them. Yum!