Off the Grid - Northlands

There be Dragons! Mate!

Jan 2 my Dad (Kevin Stewart) came on out to New Zealand to visit the wayward fam, enjoy young Beau, and see some of the sites. Since Dad is a true Floridian and pretty much gets goose bumps when the temp doesn't start with a "9" (Fahrenheit....think 33 C) we decided to go up North. I only took  a Friday off so it was going to be a quick weekend trip. The itinerary was:

1) Leave Friday Morning, stop in Matapouri to see the Mermaid Pools

2) Arrive Friday afternoon in Mangonui (mong-go-new-EE). This is the Doubtless Bay area

3) Leave Sat morning for Cape Reinga. The tippy-top of NZ!

4) Sunday head back home, stopping a few places and getting late lunch at Ransom Vineyards

A flat out drive to Mangonui is about 4.5 hours. Mangonui to Cape Reinga is another 1.5 hours. Luckily they had completed paving that road (to Cape Reinga) late in 2012....so it was smooth sailing.

First stop Matapouri. We were all impressed with how clear the water was. This was a neat little vacation spot for Kiwis. Tons of baches. Looked like very simple accommodation and quiet. Would be lovely to spend a few days and just unwind and soak up a few rays.

Whoa. Clear water?!

Now THIS is a kiwi Summer!

We stopped here because Lonely Planet reading Dad was talking about "Mermaid Pools". To get to the pools you had to hike up a treacherous path. I gave it a go with the bubber in tow but it was just a bit too dangerous for my liking. Kim, Dad and Ella soldiered on.

Kim thought this was REAL funny....

Dad and Beau found a nice posi (position) on the beach and relaxed while the real troopers saw the sites.

Str8 lounging.

 Turns out the Mermaid pools weren't all that impressive. Dad and Kim were back in about 30 min and we all just took in the beach for a while.

A "Four Shot"

 Then it was back in the truck and onwards to Mangonui..

We were immediately in love with Mangonui. Highly recommend it. This used to be a bustling port for the whalers way back in the day. Today it is a very quiet little town in a protected bay. Top attractions are:

1. Tons of fishing. Next time we are going to charter the "Snappa Slappa"....I'll bet this captain knows what   he is doing.
2. Mangonui Fish and Chip shop - apparently world famous. It was good Fish and Chips
3. Access to Doubtless Bay beaches.

Just a great, quiet place to get away from the city and enjoy the warmer weather.

We stayed at "Mill Tide Apartment"...which really is just ONE apartment below a lovely couple's home. They allowed dogs, babies, and smoking dads.

There was a bit of discussion around whether we should just spend Saturday enjoying Mangonui, or to bite the bullet and get BACK in the car and head up to Cape Reinga. After talking to some of the locals about how long it takes to get up there we decided to go. And we were not disappointed...

 The drive was about 1.5 hours from Mangonui on a very twisty rural road. As you approach the end of the island the views become more and more spectacular. There is a nice facility at the end of the road and appears to be managed by some Maori officials. There is no eating on site and no dogs (sorry Ella). This is a very sacred piece of land to the Maori as they believe where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean is where souls travel to go to the underworld.

The door to the underworld is easy to spot. The water becomes extremely agitated where the seas meet.It just churns and churns. You can hear the noise from way up on the cliffs.

From the parking area you take a 1 Km hike down to the Cape Reinga lighthouse. From here the view are spectacular. And of course, there are one of those crossroad signs that lets you know how far you are from Los Angeles....not that anyone would want to go there.

Walk down to the lighhouse

View of underworld gate from left to right

Beau gets a bit heavy after a 1 KM walk

Stewart Fam...sans Li'l Ella

Triple Generation shot

Cape Reinga was very special. After we soaked all that up we decided to check out the massive sand dunes just outside of 90 Mile Beach. A lot of the people we have met here talk up the dunes as a great place to rent a boogie board and go sliding down them. Kiwis always have to turn everything into some kind of extreme sport....we just enjoyed looking.

Obviously you don't want to be caught out in some dunes with a 2-wheel drive station wagon. So we employed some Rangie grunt!

You'd think it was his truck..

Extreme Kiwi dune riding...

Gotta let Ella stretch her legs..

 These dunes were pretty massive. Its hard to capture in a picture. We tried to get some perspective with the panoramic shot below.

That was an excellent start to the day. We got outta there just before all the tour buses starting showing up and headed back to Mangonui. As if this trip wasn't laden enough with spiritual overtones we nearly took a wrong turn down Salvation Rd....thankfully it was avoided.

Now back to Mangonui. We had some lunch and then Me, Kim, Beau, and Ella decided to hike up one of the volcano looking hills which guard the entrance to the Mangonui harbour.At the top we had a gorgeous 360 view of Doubtless Bay and Mangonui.

Getting Pram up the hill was no small feat.

Ah. That was worth it.

.....and farther around to the right....

Even Beau was impressed.

Its steeper than it looks.....for real.

The rest of the day we just spent enjoying the apartment in Mangonui. The owners of the apartment had a nice German Shepard named Glen who kept Ella company for a little play.

Just keep a heads up, Ella.

Next day we packed up and had one last breakkie in Mangonui. Can't wait to go back for a few more days, a lot less driving, and a lot more fishing.

Boats.

Grampa and Beau

Sleepy old town of Mangonui. Got to get some Breakkie and lots of Coffee for the drive!

On the way back we stopped at Waitangi. This is another sacred bit of land where the Maori kings signed a bit of paper with the British. Not sure of all the details. There was a museum we were hoping to tour, but it was $45 a person...so not today.

Beau was solicited about what happens if he is hurt and cant work......yeah?

Wow....too much driving. We stopped in Warkworth on the way down to have lunch at Ransom Winery. Ransom is one of 2 wineries that harvest the Carmenere grape...an ancient grape....one of our favorites. We stretched our legs and had a nosh.

Awesome trip. It was great to see Dad again and share a trip like this with him. As quick as it was, we packed a lot in and really enjoyed it. By now Dad is back in the Florida Keys tending bar and telling tall tales of cold Kiwi nights and mythical Maori locations. Beau is already missing Grampa.

When is the drool going to stop?!