Ahipara

On the road again...first stop coffee at Kawakawa, before heading north and along the newly opened road through the Mangamuka Gorge...

...where we stopped to take photos of the amazing pou. This one is on the southern side of the gorge.

These are on the other side, not far from Kaitaia.

The view of Ahipara beach from our motel balcony.

Coffee stop in Ahipara before heading south.

Ice creams at Mangonui outside the historic and picturesque store.

Looking across the harbour.

 

Wairarapa Wandering

We spent some time in Greytown, full of heritage buildings that house boutiques. This is a bike shop! Blackwell and Sons.

Lots of trees in the town, turning autumn colours.

In the afternoon we drove to Cape Palliser, the most southerly bit of NZ's North Island. The dot at the bottom of the stairs is me. I didn't go to the top this time as I did last time we visited (when it was warmer and not so windy!)

Ngawi, nearby, is famous for all the trctors and bulldozers used to launch the boats there. Very black sand. The road here is windy, narrow, gravel and washed away in places.

 

On the road

A few photos from the town of Bulls. It is world famous in New Zealand because of it's punning names for shops, etc.

A really nice cafe with Bullish interior design.

We went as far south as Plimmerton to visit family, then drove over the Rimutakas to the Wairarapa.

Our bus at the summit.

Going down...

Our afternoon and overnight spot at Lake Wararapa.

 

Ngaruawahia and New Plymouth

We headed south from Kerikeri and stayed a night in Whangarei. The bus was booked in at a glass place to fix a cracked windscreen. Then we went to Waipu for the night before heading through Auckland and down to Ngaruawahia, where we spent the night beside the river.

Next stop, Bell Block just outside New Plymouth. The motorhome park has views of Mt Taranaki and is close to the cycle trail along the coast into New Plymouth.

First the track goes through bush and parkland at Bell Block...

Then we came to some sort of special truck show. It was huge - I took a video but obviously this platform doesn't support videos. So, just a picture of an old fire truck.

This bridge is on the coastal walkway/cycleway. Mt Taranaki in the background.

Malcolm at the other side. It's like a whale skeleton.

Along the coast. The beaches here are all black sand.

We stopped at a pop up cafe and had hot crossed buns - it's Easter Sunday. Malcolm has a Lawrence of Arabia hat under his helmet for sun protection.😀

This is the wind wand, a kinetic sculpture at New Plymouth. We had lunch in town then cycled back.

 

Okaihau to Kaikohe Cycle Trail

Early morning view of the river just above Rainbow Falls and just a few metres away from our bus, parked at the NZMCA Park.

We drove to Okaihau (not far away) and rode the trail to (almost) Kaikohe and back. It was hot but Malcolm's protecting his skin from the sun.

Scenes along the trail...

This is the remains of railway stuff. This part of the trail is an old railway route.

Lots of pretty countryside...

Horse on the trail.

Unfortunately Malcolm got a puncture just before Kaikohe, so we returned a few kms early. He had to keep stopping to pump up the tyre.

Mural at our lunch stop cafe at Okaihau.