Arrived Hokianga Harbour

We departed the Kia Iwi Lakes at about 11am this morning and made our way north on Highway 12. Neither of us has ever travelled  north via this route so it has been a day of new territory

One of the standouts for the day was the drive through the Waipoua Forest.  It was very easy to visualise what New Zealand might have looked like some 2000 years ago.  We did a small detour into the forest itself to have lunch at the Waipoua Forest visitors centre.  The information at the centre gave a detailed description of the bush workers life all those years ago. Not for us that’s for sure.

About 10km further up highway 12 we made another stop to visit New Zealand’s most famous kauri tree – Tane Mahuta. According to the experts the tree begun its life about 2000 years ago and currently measures – total height 51.5 metres, trunk height 17.7metres,  total girth 13.8 metres and trunk volume 244.5 cubic metres. A big boy in anyone’s language.

What we did notice as we travelled through the region is that there are still many people involved in the kauri industry in some form or other.

We arrived at the Hokianga Harbour at about 4pm this afternoon. What a stunning view of the harbour you get on driving over the hill onto the Hokianga.  The picture attached does not do it justice.  We decided to call it a day and make a night of it at Opononi.  We are booked into the local motorcamp (about 50 metres from the water) as we need to catch up on a few domestic chores.  We have been freedom camping for most of the last 8 days so things like the washing of clothes go on the back burner.

I also think I just saw Rod getting his surf caster out from the back of the motorhome!!

We intend meandering around the Hokianga for the next couple of days so will keep you up to date.

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