Whatuwhiwhi to Tauranga

Sunday 27th April we left the sodden site at Whatuwhiwhi on the Karikari Peninsula and headed towards the Bay of Islands. In no particular rush we stopped off at several bays before something in the travel guide caught our eye. ’World Famous Fish & Chips’ - Not just in one guide but in all three that we have. Where is it? Mangonui on the South East corner of Doubtful Bay. We were only fifteen minutes away but it was only 11am on a Sunday. Oh Well! When in Rome. We did a quick heritage tour of the village & arrived back at the restaurant on the quay at 12pm. It was already full. Never mind! We placed our order. The pieces of fish were cooked from fresh as we waited. It was worth waiting. Never mind plates. We ate out of paper. Delicious!
After lunch we took another signposted scenic route, well signposted at the beginning, which meant getting lost & going over hills which had had landslips due to the previous nights rain. Eventually we arrived in Kerikeri where we went round NZ’s two oldest standing buildings, Kemp House & The Stone Store. The Stone Store was meant to house NZ mission supplies but became a trading store & Kemp House was originally a mission house. The Kemps & their descendents occupied the house from 1831-1974. Both houses are now subject to flooding from the nearby river when timber, rocks etc are washed down from the hills & jam at the bridge causing the river to flood. A bypass is being built to hopefully remove this hazard.
After spending the night at Kerikeri we moved on round the Bay of Islands to Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the Treaty of Waitangi signing in 1840 meant that the Maori & the English immigrants were to become one nation & New Zealand became a British Protectorate.
Continuing round the bay we arrived at Opua from where we caught the ferry across to Okiato which was previously called Russell & became the first capital of New Zealand. From there it is a short hop to present day Russell which was previously called by the Maori name Kororareka. It is hard to believe that this quiet little seaside village (Pop. Approx. 1200) was once known as the ‘Hellhole of the Pacific’ with its seafront lined with grog shops & houses of ill repute. It was a whaling station for the Europeans, Americans & Australians as well as being a major Maori settlement. The town was destroyed by fire when a casual match was dropped in a gunpowder store. The British Navy at sea took the resulting explosion as a Maori uprising & promptly shelled the place.
The village was re-built around two surviving buildings, both churches, & re-named Russell. One of the churches is the oldest Anglican church in NZ. It also has what it claims is the oldest pub but as it is the third or fourth building on the site this is doubtful. It was the first to be licenced however.
The Bay of Islands was a favourite of American writer & sportsman Zane Grey who promoted the area as a centre for deep sea game-fishing, with a clubhouse in Russell.
We both liked Russell & stayed 3 nights. On the Tuesday morning we visited the Pompallier Mission, the oldest surviving Catholic building in NZ which was used as a printery, tannery & storehouse. They used to import religious books from France, translate them from Latin to French & then to Maori, print & cover the new books with leather from the tannery & give them to the Maoris. The mission closed after about 15 years & the building continued as a tannery. It was later altered to become a private house which it remained for 70 years before being bought by the NZ Government to be exhibited as an historical house. It was only when replacing some of the flooring did they discover the tanning pits & realise what the real history of the building was.
It was a sunny morning & despite the forecast of a big storm approaching, headlines in the papers, we booked an afternoon cruise out into the Bay to see the Hole in the Rock & maybe some dolphins. Within half an hour the sun had disappeared & the rain started. Nevertheless we went ahead. The sea was a bit bumpy & there were a few very green passengers but we went through the Hole & then on the return there, right on cue, were the dolphins with passengers from other boats already in the water with them.
The rain hammered down most of the night but come the morning the sun was out & we did a mini tour of the village learning most of the above & seeing some of the beaches close by. In the afternoon we took the passenger ferry across to Paihia but this is just a resort full of motels etc. so we soon returned.
Thursday we took the coast road, instead of the ferry & the main road, as we started off to Whangerei & were slowed down by several landslips caused by the recent rains. We booked into a site near the town centre & had a quick look round. Not impressed. If it hadn’t been for Pat’s cousin Mel living nearby we would probably have by-passed it. Anyway, we had dinner with Mel & Ed & spent a very pleasant evening with them.
Friday we continued south not sure of where our next stop would be. We arrived at Auckland in the early afternoon & as the traffic was moving we did likewise. After crossing the Harbour Bridge without too much difficulty we decided to head for Tauranga.

Pics are Mangonui Harbour, Kemp House, Maori canoes at Waitangi & NZ traffic hazard & solution.