It was a lazy start to the day, not surfacing until after 08.00 as we were in no great hurry to be anywhere today. It was good to have spent four nights in one place, but after breakfast it was time to pack our bags into the car and move on to pastures new. Today we are heading for Omapere, which is over on the west coast, just at the entrance to Kokianga harbour. Omapere it not famous for anything in particular, but our reasons for staying here are firstly it is on the way to the forests that contain the oldest Kauri trees in NZ, which are allegedly massive and secondly we met the sister of the owner of the B&B where we are on the Taieri Gorge Railway in South Island and she naturally recommended it to us.
We departed Kerkeri and made our way into Piahia to pick up a small wooden Kiwi as a souvenir, which ordinarily would not be a problem. However, as we are entering Australia, they have very strict rules about bringing in any flora or fauna, so we had to make sure we bought the kiwi from a shop that could supply a certificate to verify that the wood has been properly sterilised, otherwise we may have had a problem getting it home. From Piahia we headed cross country to the Hokianga estuary, which is a substantial natural harbour, but just seems to lack any boats. On one side are high grass covered hills with beautiful emerald green grass and on the other side of the water are towering sand dunes, which in the summer are ideal places for sand tobogganing.
We stopped for food at Oponini, right on the edge of the boatless harbour and ate our packed lunch, with the sun straining to break through the high cirrus clouds.
After lunch we drove on to Omapere and parked up on the top of a headland overlooking the harbour. We walked around the headland and sat down on a bench soaking up the sun as it periodically broke through the thin high clouds. By then it was time for afternoon tea, which was taken at a nearby cafe with equally stunning views over the sea. From there it was time to go and check in to the B&B, which has the most incredible location right on the beach, looking out to the estuary and the Tasman Sea. The B&B is as excellent inside as its location is stunning outside and the couple that run it are superb. Definitely a good recommendation even if she was a relative. This photo was taken from the beach!
As I write this blog I am currently sitting on the veranda looking out to sea and listening to the waves lap up onto the sandy beach below. Tonight we are pushing the boat out and going just a few kms down the road to a small pub for dinner.
Tomorrow will be a very easy driving day, as we are only going about 90kms down the coast. It’s wind down time now as we are into the last week of our time in New Zealand.
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