Enjoying My Road Trip North

I have now completed Day Four of my roadtrip up north.  The weather has been absolutely gorgeous – apart from wind, which I think occurs up here quite a lot of the time! 

Every day has been full of travelling and I have driven over 1000km so far.  Tonight I am staying in Paihia in the Bay of Islands.  The following photos are from Thursday and Friday, and cover my journey as far as Kaitaia.

I never felt on "holiday" until I cleared the horrendous traffic at Auckland.  

Mangawhai Heads, north of Auckland

I followed the coastline most of the time.  This river was in Waipu, a town settled by Scottish immigrants, and walking along its banks made a great break from driving.

Walking beside the Waipu River in Waipu village

I loved Ruakaka Beach with its beautiful white sands, and even went for a paddle - the water was icy cold!

Ruakaka Beach, near Whangarei

Before arriving in Whangarei I visited the Marsden Oil Refinery visitor's centre.  It was most interesting to discover what can be done with crude oil, from sulphur fertilizer to diesel.  I thought they just made petrol!

A model of part of the oil refinery at Marsden

I would not normally post pictures of a toilet, but this public facility in Kawakawa is famous for being the only building in the Southern Hemisphere designed by the famous Austrian-born architect,  Friedensreich Hundertwasser.  Bus loads of tourists stop here, and I sneaked my visit in between two such buses.  It is such an interesting place that I will probably do a special post about it at some stage.

Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa

I have passed several hotels of this style, many rebranding themselves to cater for the current traveler.  This one offered single-room accommodation for a night to several weeks at a very affordable rate.

The Ohaeawai Hotel, built in 1895

My visit to Te Waimate Mission House was also very interesting - probably another post at some time!

Te Waimate Mission House, Waimate North

I stopped at a rest area when crossing the Mangamuka Hill and photographed this stream.

Mangamuka stream

I decided to do a little exploring of the Karikari Peninsular, driving on the first of many gravel roads I have covered this trip.

Matai Bay, Karikari Peninsular

The ocean beach looked spectacular but it was a long trek downwards to reach and I opted out, feeling too tired and hot to be bothered with climbing all the way back up again.

Karikari ocean beach

Leaving the Peninsular, I headed into Kaitaia and out the other side to visit Ahipara.  I was hoping to see a bit of Ninety Mile Beach but beach access was very limited and the place was a bit disappointing to me.

Ahipara beach, near Kaitaia

And, finally, look who has come to visit me in my motel room this evening.

A very content motel cat

Cheers everybody,
Margaret.