Today was a glorious sunny, warm day. We decided to stay close to home and revisit the wonderful Coastal Walkway, after getting our cappuccino and chai latte at That Coffee Bloke’s van!

The BOI was blue and calm.

It was low tide and as we approached the area closer to the water we could see rocks with remnants of oyster and mussel shells, and an interesting seaweed (I think) that looks like strings of beads.

There was also a beautiful marble nestled in a hollow in the rocks that caught my eye.

We continued into Opua and rested up a bit before heading back. We took a detour onto the Harrison Reserve trail for a half mile, just to cool down in the damp forest. It was hot in the sun, exposed along the waterfront.

It’s a jungle in there!

We eventually emerged and walked the boardwalk over the mangrove forest (swamp?).

At low tide the grass or stick like growth in the mud flats are actually peg-roots or pencil-roots of the mangrove (manawa in Maori) plant. They allow the trees to breath since their main roots are underwater.

We concluded our 5ish mile walk in town, seeing more historic sites; first Christian Church built, first ship launched, etc, etc. All from the perspective of the newcomer Europeans of course! The stone Anglican church, I don’t think it was the ‘first’, was impressive.

But the huge tree to the right was way more impressive – to me anyway!

I believe this is a pōhutukawa, also known as the “New Zealand Christmas tree, New Zealand Christmas bush, and iron tree, it’s a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family that produces a brilliant display of red flowers…” (per Wikipedia). We haven’t seen them in bloom yet, but they tend to be huge impressive trees along beaches.

The blobs hanging from the branches are aerial roots! I guess that means it can get pretty foggy or humid around here!

I spent the day immersed in the cultural history of the formation of Aotearoa New Zealand as a nation at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds just across the Waitangi river inlet from Paihia. What a fascinating history! I joined a tour group and learned so much, then had to go back to take pictures to remember it all! We started with the reason Aotearoa New Zealand became a nation; in order for Maori to trade further afield (mostly with Australia, which was a British colony at the time) they had to have a flag, otherwise their New Zealand built ships would not be recognized, and would be treated as pirates. They wanted more options than to trade only with the ships that came to their shores, mostly British, American and French whalers, sealers and lumber traders. The many tribes or iwi (and sub-tribes hapu) never considered themselves one nation before European contact, and didn’t for many generations thereafter. We moved into another area of the grounds through a doorway, and under the ‘protection’ of Aokapurangi by “passing between her legs”. What a great interpretation of protection!

The carving over the doorway we entered.

The explanation!

We continued the tour with a description and explanation of the waka, Maori word for canoe, and the ceremonial ‘Ngatokimatawhaorua’, the waka carved from 1937 to 1940 to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Waitanga treaty on Feb. 6, 1840. It is made from 3 giant kauri trees using traditional methods. It is only used once a year, Feb. 5 or 6, Waitangi Days, a national holiday.

The larger waka on the right is Nagtokimatawhaorua. The first woman to ever be allowed to ride in it was Princess Diana in 1983.

The prows are elaborately carved, as are the gunnels.

We moved on to the Maori Meeting House ‘Te Whare Runanga’ where we participated in a welcome ceremony ritual and after entering, a cultural presentation of dance, song and weapon demonstraion!

A portion of the Haka.

Of course I had to get in on the action!

I spent hours reading all about the treaty history, enjoyed walking the grounds and learning more about the natural history and relaxing in the intermittent sunshine. I finished by going through the ‘Price of Citizenship’ gallery, about the many wars that the Maori have joined as allies of the British, hoping that their commitment and sacrifice would afford them an equal experience of citizenship with the Pakeha (basically the white ‘outsider’ New Zealanders).

This beautiful kauri gum block is at the exit of the gallery and is testament to the resiliency of the Maori as full citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand!

After taking care of bills back home, we headed out on another loop trip to find fish & chips for lunch. We decided to take some backroads through forests. Gravel roads through the woods are common for us in Oregon, but add the tropical aspect and it is fantastic!

The palms and tree ferns really made it feel tropical, despite the cold wind!

We were glad that the holiday is over, fewer cars on the road, in fact we saw more hikers on the road than cars! Part of the roads we took are a section of the Te Araroa trail.

Occasionally the vegetation would part to give views of mountain tops! Also, in one instance, a view of a car that went over the edge, it looked fairly recent!

We went up over the mountains (hills?) and down to a beach where we saw surfers. We continued around the curvy roads to another beach at Whangaruru South (we were at Whangaruru North on Oct. 16). There is a fish & chips shop there, but it was closed, probably to recover from Labour Weekend which ended yesterday. It was windy and no one was on the beach, all the houses looked closed up, curtains drawn, probably until the next holiday! We continued to Helena Bay, a tiny beach, with no services. The road then went uphill towards the Helena Bay Gallery & Cafe. We drove into their beautiful grounds, filled with art, and then discovered that the cafe is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays! We had a feast for the eyes only at the gallery!

Outdoor art…

Indoor art…

And my favorite; Party People!

We were hungry now! So we headed back to Paihia and finally found our fish & Chips at the local Swordfish Club!

The catch of the day, looking over the bay!

We left, satisfied, and with extra to take home!

Today we headed south to take a loop road to the little town of Matapouri to see the Pacific Ocean and a few waterfalls. Our first stop was to get a cappuccino and a chai latte from “That Coffee Bloke” who sets up his mobile coffee shop at the parking area at Te Haumi river along the coastal walkway. We met a gentleman walking his dog on the walkway last week who mentioned that the locals who walk the track stop there for their morning caffeine and confab to solve the world’s problems!On down the curvy, winding roads, until we came down a hill and out onto the coast at Sandy Bay. We watched several surfers trying to catch the waves.

Several surfers got up and had a few minutes of riding the wave.

Around the next bend we reached Whale Bay Walk parking area and found a spot. It was pretty busy, being Labor Day, with lots of families out to enjoy the first holiday of the summer season! We headed on the walk out to the lookout. At the beginning of the trail there are several huge trees covered in what look like bromeliads, but I don’t know what they are except exotic looking!At the lookout we could see way out across the ocean to distant islands. We spotted several sailboats.

Tiny triangles of canvas can be seen on either side of the point.

Looking down, there is a picturesque beach, but no visible means of getting there except by boat!

Following the trail down from the lookout we were able to access a tiny pebble beach on a small bay. There were two people snorkeling in the bay and I was inspired to at least get my feet wet! It was cold, but refreshing! We then crossed a little sandy spit and came onto Matapouri Bay and a beautiful beach!

The shallow sandy bottom gave the water a beautiful teal color.

Lots of people enjoying the beach today.

The trail looped back to our starting point and we enjoyed our picnic lunch at a sheltered spot on the bluff above Whale Bay. The least windy spot we’ve had lunch so far! We continued our exploration on the loop road that led to Whangarei, pronounced FANG-a-ray. In Maori ‘wh’ is pronounced with the ‘f’ sound. We took a series of side roads to Taheke Waterfall, then a short hike to the top of the falls. Unfortunately it was not photogenic from that angle. So here’s a picture of the bridge over the Taheke river.

This must be the ‘new’ bridge that replaced the old ford!

On to the second waterfall, Whangarei Falls, very close to the city of Whangarei (population about 100,500). The parking lot was filled! Lots of people, but the hike to the bottom of the falls was very pleasant.

And the falls was very impressive!

We completed the loop road and headed back north to home. We grilled some burgers and enjoyed them with the chutneys our host gave us from yesterday’s happy hour! An onion relish, a pickle relish, and some beet chutney, or as they say, beetroot chutney. Absolutely delicious.

We headed for a quick 2 hour hike on a part of the Te Araroa Trail nearby. The trail is called New Zealand’s Trail and goes from Cape Reinga at the north tip of the north island to Bluff at the south end of the south island, a total of about 3000km (1864miles)! This tiny section goes from the Waitangi Treaty Grounds to Kerikeri. We cheated and drove to the Mt. Bledsoe lookout only a few km away and started from there.

Our view from Mt. Bledsoe overlooking Bay of Islands, the land in the far left background is the peninsula where Marsdens Cross is located.

We were surprised to find out that it went through a “working’ forest, on logging roads.

We felt we were transported back to the Oregon coast, with the clearcut inland, and brief glimpses of the ocean through the trees.

We hiked downhill and past ‘Sewerage Rd’, referring to the pond we saw earlier from above.

There was a nice glen at the bottom of the hill where we turned around to hike back up the hill.

I think we did about 4 miles total. We returned to clean up and have a lovely afternoon happy hour with our host.