Opua + Road Trips

January 4-13, 2015

We came back to Opua and did a couple shake down overnight road trips foreshadowing our upcoming epic Road Trip New Zealand. We also did a little North Island Cruising for good measure.

Logbook – January 4, 2015 (Matauwhi to Opua)

Passage Log Highlights

Engines on
1422 Depart Matauwhi
1628 Engines off Opua

Daily Notes

Fuel dock for water plus 2 re-anchorings

Logbook – January 5, 2015 (Opua – Cape Reinga Road Trip)

Daily Notes

Exodus road trip. Cape Reinga. Te Pake Sand Dunes.
Pukenui Holiday Park with ponies and ducks.

We took a 2 day/1 night road trip up to the most norther section of New Zealand. We packed a lot into 2 days, and it was a lot of fun. First stop: our camp site at Pukenui Holiday Park

Kind of random, but they had ponies there

Second stop: A nice roadside view on the way up to Cape Reinga

Third stop: Cape Reinga, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea

Fourth stop: a small beach called Tapotupotu.

The only photographic evidence I was on this trip. These are my feet in Alex’s huge jandals (aka flip-flops)

A little paddle board back at the holiday park

A little chili and a little Tempranillo in the kitchen at the holiday park

Logbook – January 6, 2015 (Opua – Cape Reinga Road Trip)

Daily Notes

90 mile beach – paddleball, driving on the beach
Ahipara – very end of 90 mile beach, helped people stuck in sand

Second day, first stop: 90-mile beach near Pukenui. In reality, the beach is only about 55 miles long, but does it really matter?

Just driving along the beach, nothing strange about that

Second day, second stop: The very southern end of 90 mile beach near Ahipara. Helping another vehicle that got stuck in the sand

Logbook – January 7, 2015 (Opua)

Daily Notes

T – spearfishing w/ Andy – 42 lb Yellowtail!
D- run along Kerikeri rivertrack to Rainbow Falls

Our new favorite anchor location in Opua, behind Motu Tokape

I went for a run along Kerikeri River Track…

… And the Fairy Pools. I saw this sign but couldn’t figure out what the attraction was.

While I was running, Tim was taking care of the serious business! A 42 lb Kingfish (aka Yellowtail)

These were the gorgeous kingfish steaks we had for dinner that night

Email to family and friends dated January 7, 2015

Subject: Exodus – Mini-road trip

We decided to take advantage of the warm and sunny weather to take a mini road trip to the far north of New Zealand. It was kind of like a dry run for our upcoming road trip, and it served its purpose and then some. We went to Cape Reinga, which is the northwest tip of the north island where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea collide. It was good weather so the wave peaks were fairly benign, but the views were stunning. The Maori consider it a sacred place, where souls depart this world for another, and both my guidebook and the sign at the parking lot said it is taboo to eat or drink there. But that didn’t stop a Kiwi family from having a full blown picnic out there. I’m sure they didn’t mean to be so disrespectful, but c’mon, do a little reading.
We also went to the Te Paki sand dunes, and even though we forgot our boogie boards and were too cheap to rent them (NZ$15) the boys still had a blast climbing up and then running down the dunes. We stayed the night at the Pukenui Holiday Park, which seemed a bit over priced for what it was (NZ$54 for the four of us for just an unpowered tent site), we had a relaxing evening chatting with some folks from Singapore who were winding down a relaxing vacation away from the work stresses that I guess are so prevalent in Singapore.
The next day we headed out to 90 mile beach, and wow, what a treat. It’s not actually 90 miles long, more like 55 miles, but at that length, it really doesn’t matter. The slope of the beach is very very gradual and the sand is hard packed so most of the day, excepting right around high tide, you can drive out on the beach. Some of the entry/exit points aren’t accessible for 2WD vehicles like ours, but we still found a spot to get out there and go for a spin. Turns out it would have been possible for us to drive the full length of the beach, but without knowing for sure, we didn’t go that far.
We made it back to Opua last night after dinner in Paihia, and since this is the first time we’ve left Exodus alone at anchor, we were happy to find her right where we left her.
Today, Tim is out with a local guy he’s made friends with spearfishing at Cape Brett, so we are hoping for some Hamachi sashimi tonight.
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Logbook – January 8, 2015 (Opua)

Daily Notes

Dinner with Lumbaz – curry & sushi

Logbook – January 9, 2015 (Opua – Kerikeri)

Daily Notes

Family Kerikeri day. Winery, propane, camping store, liquor store, grocery store (for yogurt covered raisins.), hike along river track

I made the boys go with me again for a hike along the Kerikeri River Track. They weren’t thrilled

And the highlight of the day for Brenden were the Roosters in the parking lot

Logbook – January 10, 2015 (Opua)

Daily Notes

Science & programming day. Brenden loves oobleck. Programming not so much.

Logbook – January 11, 2015 (Opua – Roadtrip Waipoua Forest)

Daily Notes

Road Trip – Wairere Boulders, Kokianga, Waipoua Forest & Campground

We took another one-night road trip, this time to the southwest to the Waipoua Forest on the Kauri Coast. We stopped at the Wairere Boulders Nature Park along the way, and it was quite a treat, even if expensive. It’s privately owned and operated, which explains the cost, and if you are a geology nut this is a must see. The rocks are basalt, and the fluted ridges are from erosion from acidic water from Kauri Tree runoff. Apparently, Basalt eroding like this is very, very rare.

They had a bit of a game set up for kids. It was to find all the rocks made to look like animals. The boys found the turtle.

This rock apparently fell over at some point

The main hike through the park was a loop, but I opted to take the additional one-hour extension up to a lookout point. The boys opted to wait for me in the car. Party poopers.

We made a quick stop at the small town of Opononi on the south side of Hokianga Harbor. Beautiful.

We hiked to the end of Southhead, the southern point of Hokianga Harbor. More stunning views.

A view from Southhead back towards the towns of Ompere and Opononi

A stream ran right behind the campground

Email to family and friends dated January 11, 2015

Subject: Exodus – Another short road trip

We are heading out this morning on another road trip, this time to the Waipoua Forest where the largest Kauri tree stands. And supposedly there’s some nice short hikes there. In my last email after we got back from the previous road trip I mentioned that Tim went out spearfishing with a local guy, so I wanted to report that it was a highly successful day and Tim came back with a 42 pound Kingfish (we know them as Yellowtail). We gave some away then had a sushi feast with our friends on another kid boat, s/v Lumbaz, and we still have a freezer packed full of fish. We will be doing some cruising up north once Iguana gets back from their road trip in a few days, so Tim is on a fishing ban until then. 🙂
Love and miss you all,
-D.

Logbook – January 12, 2015 (Opua – Roadtrip Waipoua Forest)

Daily Notes

Labyrinth woodworking. “The Village Green”
Back to Opua

One more visit to the stream at teh Waipoua campground

On our way back, the boys made it clear they were hiked out. So, we stopped at this little game and woodworking store, and they had a maze game to play. You had to walk through the maze to find 15 letters and then unscramble the letters. Not as exciting as the Sand Dunes on the previous trip, but they appreciated not having to hike again.

And there was a peacock that Brenden kept calling a Chicken.

Logbook – January 13, 2015 (Opua)

Daily Notes

T – got oven handle welded.
D – run along bike trail

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