Day Sixty Two

Day Sixty Two

 This will  be the last blog entry, unless someone comes up with a very convincing argument as to why it should continue (offers over $1,000 please 😃)

It was begun as a means of lightening my life and that of anyone who wanted to read it, during the dark first days of total isolation in mid-March 2020.

  It’s covered many subjects and seems to have reached all over the world, something I didn't anticipate.

Now, in New Zealand at least, Lockdown is more or less over.  My thanks to all  who read and, I hope, enjoyed the ramblings.  

Autumnal colour in Arrowtown, South Island.

Today's entry is a little longer than usual.  So gird up yer loins for the last leg and arm of the journey across the country, which in my opinion, is the best in the world.

Richard Pearse

 But before we leave Auckland, let’s meet Richard William Pearse 1877–1953, poor farmer and inventor from Temuka, South Island but whose aeroplane (or a copy thereof) flies in Auckland’s Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).

The world believes the Wright Brothers were the first to achieve sustained flight, that’s not quite true.

Richard flew several times, with locals and family watching, before and on 31^st March 1902.     The trouble is, those witnesses weren’t “officials”, just local farmers whose word has since been unjustly questioned.

Pearse Memorial in Waitohi

  Pearse (who was humble and never claimed any right to fame) flew again in 1903,  had been working on powered flight since 1899 but where the Wright Brothers had access to funds and an engineering workshop, Pearse had neither. He worked his farm alone and in his spare time, spent whatever he could afford on his inventions.

Pearse's water-cooled engine

Richard’s plane included several pioneering concepts: a monoplane configuration, wing flaps and rear elevator, steerable nose wheel and a propeller with variable-pitch blades driven by a unique double-acting horizontally opposed petrol engine.

  A replica of Pearse’s aircraft hangs in the Timaru Museum as well as in MOTAT.

 He may not be world famous but Richard Pearse was a great man with a brilliant brain. He’s honoured in New Zealand and deserves the accolades.

Artists impression of Richard flying

As we travel north from Auckland, we might pop over to see the Gannet colony at Muriwai and the adjacent surfing beach at Maori Bay.   

The sand on the west coast includes iron oxide, which makes it black, a heritage of our volcanic past - and present. 

White Island

In December 2019, Whakari-White Island 48km off the east coast, near Tauranga and Whakatane, erupted, killing 21 people and injuring many more.

Look west to the Kaipara Harbour, a popular place for gathering seafood, especially oysters.

Kaipara Harbour

 I once told a friend I’d never tasted an oyster and the next day, he appeared with a bucket full of Kaipara oysters. Heaven.

 We pass through the seaside-retirement town of Orewa on the Hibiscus Coast, having briefly traversed the Whangaparaoa Penisula, a gorgeous place to have a bayside retreat. It's the site of many baches (holiday homes) and retirement villages.

Whangaparaoa Peninsula

Ocean east we might just see Great Barrier and Little Barrier Islands. Crystal clear water and a laid-back lifestyle, attracts many vacationers.

Great Barrier Island

Then on through Wellsford (Whakapirau) and past the Honey Centre where you can see working bees behind glass and taste the many kinds of honey produced.

 Warkworth (Mahurangi), is next. An attractive town with the River Mahurangi running through it and many attractions for tourists and locals alike.

Warkworth

 It’s the gateway to another splendid area the Tawharanui Peninsula and Regional Park.

 During WW2, Warkworth was host to 25 US Army military camps where soldiers trained prior to being  sent to Pacific theatres of war. They were well received by the townsfolk who respected their commitment as allies.

American Troops assemble in Auckland prior to leaving to serve in the Pacific

To get to our next place, we have to traverse the winding and sometimes dangerous road up the Brynderwyn Hills.

In 2017, the New Zealand Herald wrote about this road: 

"Every time a motorist enjoys the view from the top, they have survived one of Northland's worst twisting, challenging and dangerous roads."

It’s hard to impress, with just a photograph, what impact that view from the top had on me in those far off days.

I knew and loved the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District and the glories of beautiful Cornwall but never had I driven up a long, dark and occasionally claustrophobic road to be confronted so unexpectedly with a landscape which seemed to open out the world and stretch for hundreds of miles. 

A small portion of the view from Brynderwyn

At that time, there was no safe place to stop and marvel but that’s exactly what I wanted to do. 

From Top of the World cafe

When people say something is ‘stunning’, they rarely mean it literally but this view, stretching from distant horizon East to West,  stunned my senses.

At the first opportunity I pulled the car in to the side and simply sat there, absorbing the amazing  panorama, only part of which you see in these photos.

The next time, I knew better.  The Top of the World Café offered not just the view to enjoy at leisure but fine breakfasts too.

Whangarei is a pleasant town with a famous Clock Museum, Quarry Gardens and Craft Centre, a Town Basin which is a lovely meeting place on a sunny day with its cafés, gallery and a walkway - Huarahi te Whai.  

Town Basin Whangarei

I’ve spent many a happy hour here but not today when we have miles to go before we sleep…

Although it’s 36km from SH1 to Matapouri Bay, it’s well worth the detour as it’s one of those peaceful and so-far, unspoiled beaches where the sea is gentle, the sand warm and the locals as friendly as can be.

Matapouri Bay

If I could live here, I would. 

But onward and upwards because we’ve got to get to a loo!  

The one I’ve chosen was designed by Friedrich Stowasser (1928-2000), an Austrian Kiwi who preferred to be called Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hunderwasser.   Eccentric? 

Maybe but a brilliant artist and designer. 

His public toilets in Kawakawa bring people from all over the world and they don’t just want to spend a penny.

Made  largely from recycled materials, it was the last project completed by the reclusie Hunderwasser before he died.

 His full name means: ‘Rainy-day, Dark- colourful, rich Friedrich Hundred waters’.   
An appropriate name for the designer of such a fantastic toilet.

 Until Hunderwasser’s loo was built, Kawakawa was mainly known for the train which shares space with cars along the main street; not the only place in New Zealand where car and train get along together.

We’ll hang a right and look at Russell (Kororareka),  New Zealand’s first capital.

Duke Marlborough Hotel, Russell

A pretty place, full of history and tourists but it was not always the lovely place it is today.

Before Europeans arrived, Maori lived there, mostly peacefully and appreciative of its climate, good soil and abundant fish stocks. 

Kororareka was a port, where British and American sailors and whalers landed with goods to trade and a view to womanising and grog.  
So appalling was their behaviour that it became known as The Hell Hole of the Pacific.

When Captain William Hobson who became New Zealand’s first Governor, needed to set up a capital in 1840,  Kororareka was deemed thoroughly unsuitable.

He purchased land 5 km away,  called it Russell and declared it the capital.  
However, in 1841, Ngati Whatua, an Auckland-area  Maori tribe, gifted land to Hobson and  Auckland became the capital.    It wasn’t until 1865 that Wellington assumed this role.

Captain William Hobson

In 1840, after short negotiations because it was rumoured French ships were on their way to claim the country, a Treaty between the British crown and  Maori chiefs was signed at Waitangi.

This gave Maori protection by British troops and guaranteed rights to their lands and off-shore areas.

Remnants of the original
Treaty

There has been controversy ever since over the motives and interpretations of the Treaty of Waitangi and in March 1845, Hone Heke a Nga Puhi, Maori chief was so sure the British (who did not have a great reputation for sticking to Treaty promises) were reneging on the deal that he chopped down the pole flying the Union Flag, in protest.

Kotahitanga being erected

Thirteen years later, in January 1858 a new flagpole was erected as a gift from Maihi Kawhiti. It was hauled by 500 warriors to the top of Maiki Hill and optimistically named, ‘Te Kotahitanga’ (togetherness).

 

Treaty House at Waitangi

And so to Paihia, where before the government ban, I swam with the dolphins, an amazing experience. Pahia is one of the many jewels in the crown of The Bay of Islands.

Paihia is the major tourist town of Northland and, of course, there are many things to do on sea and land.   
Cruises around the islands are popular, expecially the historic Cream Trip. 

This began in 1927, when Albert Fuller, started a collection and delivery route around the many inhabited islands. 
I took this trip some years ago and where there's nowhere  for the boat to moor, the residents have breeches buoys and other contraptions to haul their mail and produce to and from the vessel.  

Take  Tall Ship cruise or watch the dolphins.

 

We’ll pick up a few juicy oranges from one of the many orchards in Kerikeri and acknowledge New Zealand’s first market gardener and commercial dairy farmer: Rawiri Taiwhanga.

Rawiri Taiwhanga

In 1826, after learning agricultural and horticultural skills, his garden was abundant with potatoes, corn, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, onions, shallots peas and parsnips, peaches and vines as well as an acre of wheat. 

When his raupo hut burned down in 1829, he and his wife Mata, built a substantial house, here seen sadly derelict.

From 1835, Rawiri, who had become a Christian lay preacher and believed strongly in education,  ran a school near Kaikohe but also a dairy farm, selling butter and milk in substantial quantities, thus establishing himself as New Zealand first commercial dairy farmer too.

 He was the pioneer who led Northland towards the flourishing international reputation as growers and exporters of fine fruits it is today. 

Here we are at Matauri Bay.

On 10^th July, 1985, une action totalement ignoble took place in Auckland Harbour, in the heart of the Central Business District.

The Rainbow Warrior, owned by Greenpeace was bombed in the accurately named Operation Satanique.  

Photographer Fernando Pereira, on board at the time, was killed.  

Fernando Pereira

The French Intelligence Service, who initially denied involvement wanted the Warrior sunk before it could sail in peaceful protest against France’s continued nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll.

There followed a huge scandal and many more betrayals. The perpetrators escaped justice as a result of France threatening (blackmailing) to boycott New Zealand goods to the European Economic Community.

Rainbow Warrior, 1985

Although the Rainbow Warrior could not sail to Mururoa, hundreds of private crafts owned by New  Zealanders, did so. 

Rainbow Warrior Memorial 

On 13^th December 1987, the wreck of the valiant Rainbow Warrior was laid to rest at Matauri Bay to become a dive site and marine sanctuary.

NASA shot of Aupouri Peninsula

We move east now and make our way to the base of the Aupouri Peninsula.  Here, the North Island narrows from 60km wide to a mere 10km and we arrive at 90 Mile Beach, which isn’t actually 90 miles long at all - but who cares?

It’s a fun place to be and you can body-board, run (or in my case, tumble) down the dunes. 

Seafoam around rocks at 90 Mile Beach

A bus will take you for a trip on the beach and quite often, cars zip along  there too but be wary, they can also get stuck and your insurance company may not understand!

State Highway One will take us to the very tip of the North Island, although not the northernmost point, which is the Surville Cliffs, 30km east.

Kapowairua or Piwhane,  (Spirits Bay), is a most sacred place, where Maori souls gather, round the old Pohutukawa Tree before leaping onwards to Hawaiki the spiritual homeland.

Kapowairua from the air

Today's visitors can walk to the lighthouse at Cape Reinga where, if their eyesight is good enough, they can see the next major landfall - Evgenkinot, Russia. 

The Pohutukawa tree at Kapowairua

Cape Reinga

And we are at the end of our journey too.  In reality, there is much, much more to see of New Zealand than appears in this blog.  I hope you'll come and explore for yourself one day.  It's well worth it and by and large, we're friendly😁.

I dedicate this blog entry to my dear friend Micki, who came to the end of her 90+ year journey as I was writing this.

Go with God, dear friend. Haere, haere, haere, hoki atu koe ki te Atua.

Rainbow Falls Kerikeri