Following a night in the most comfortable bed so far in New Zealand, we awoke to somewhat cloudy skies that during the day have disappeared to deliver us brilliant blue skies and a fantastic day. Whilst breakfast was only continental and not full English, we managed to take well over one and a half hours over it by talking to the proprietors about how we met up with her sister, where we had been, where we are going to and about their forthcoming holiday. They are taking a very unusual tour which basically follows the route that Moses took from Egypt through Jordan and into Israel. They may have had different names back then, but geographically it’s the same route.
As we had done a day visit to Luxor a couple of years ago, we felt entirely qualified to comment on some of the temples and the Valley of the Kings, which they were going to visit. We conveniently skipped the Jordan and Petra bit, never having been there but picked up on Israel being as how I have done the Bethlehem, Mount of Olives, Nazareth and Sea of Galilee albeit in the mid 70,’s. I’m sure it can’t have changed that much. Eventually we left just after 10.00 and headed back to Opononi to take the politically incorrect photo shown later in this blog.
We were then heading back through Omapere to the Labyrinth Woodworking shop just inside the Kauri forest at Wiamamaku. Apart from the workshop, there was also a waterfall and a maze. We parked up at the workshop and walked through the bush for about 15 minutes and came to the waterfall, which whilst OK, it was not anywhere as good as some we have seen. The problem was that to continue round the trail loop, you had to cross the river and it was still running rather high, so it was almost impossible to get across without getting wet.
As we didn’t feel inclined to get shoes and socks off, we headed back to the workshop, which we thought would contain Kauri carvings and artwork. In fact it was predominantly a puzzle place that also sold some art and a small amount of Kauri wood products. The owner was an eccentric gentleman who spends his life solving and making wooden and metal puzzles. Also in the shop was a German girl whom he seemed to know and he started showing us some puzzles and seeing if we could solve them. As we were all looking round, he got out more puzzles and we all stood around trying to solve them. Some we could and many we couldn’t. When we managed to crack one, he would bring out something trickier. The German girl’s partner turned up and he also started with some of the puzzles we had been working on. We were in this workshop for almost two hours trying out all sorts of wooden puzzles and the type of metal puzzles you get in Christmas crackers only bigger and more complex.
It was actually hard to pull ourselves away and when we did, he wanted us to try the maze before we went. We really had to decline the offer as it was 2.00pm and we had only gone 7km since 10.00! For anyone coming here for a holiday, this is a must visit establishment as the guy who owns it is extremely entertaining and his puzzles are fantastic. He also has a collection from all over the world stashed away in glass cases as well as having been in the finals of the world puzzle making championships five times, but never won it. Before going we could not resist buying what looks like a really simple puzzle that will keep guests occupied for ages whilst they are looking at the 3000 photos we will have accrued by the time we return!
After leaving the workshop, we went just a few kms south into the Wiapoua Forest to see Tane Mahuta, the oldest and largest Kauri tree in New Zealand. The tree is just a couple of minutes from the main highway and whilst it is not particularly tall, it has huge girth, something like 15metres. What is also impressive is that this tree is estimated to be over 2000 years old. Kauris are not the largest trees in the world, that accolade is awarded to the redwoods in the USA, but nevertheless, they are very impressive when seen against some of the other large trees in the forest. From there it was just a 1km drive down the road to Te Matua Ngahere, the second largest tree in New Zealand along with The Four Sisters, a quartet of Kauris all growing in the one spot. In the same hike, we could have deviated a further 20 minutes to go and see the Yakas Tree, the seventh largest tree in New Zealand. Can’t think why we would want to take an extra 40 minutes to see the seventh largest, when we have already seen the first and second!
The Department of Conservation is very protective when it comes to these trees as when you enter the forest, you have to scrape off any mud on your boots and spray the bottoms of them with a disinfectant, so you do not carry any contamination into the forest.
From the Kauri trees, we headed for our main destination of Baylys Beach about 60kms further south. We are staying in a Kiwi camp motel as opposed to a Top 10 site as we were unable to get booked in. Having arrived at our home for the evening it can easily be described as a detached unit that has probably come from Butlins Holiday Camp in Skegness. One that was built in the late 1950’s and the kitchen units look as though they are original as well. It’s clean and tidy inside, just very dated and certainly not up to the standard of the Top 10 properties. Never mind, it’s just one night and were back with Top 10 for two more nights.
Finally, how about this for political, racial, incorrectness. This sign is up outside the Opononi Hotel.
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