Day 7 was time to move on from Bay of Islands. We started heading to the top of the North Island. It was such a perfect clear day. Some action shots from in the van:
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Came across a ‘Jandal Fence’ outside a petrol station along the way.
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Our first stop was Taupo Bay. Wow! I fell in love with this place. I could easily envision many days spent at this place. A vast arc of beach, sheltered crystal clear waters, baches tucked behind the sand. On the left a boat launching section and a spot for fishing from the rocks. On the right more rocks with plenty of mussels. Headlands on either side covered in lush greenery. We sat on this beach for the entire morning. Many swims. A walk to the rocks to pick some mussels. Sitting watching the sail boats and kite surfers. That’s our van in the third row of pics, so convenient to have your clothes and a changeroom and a fridge all on one place!
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Next stop was Mangonui, renowned for their fishing and some cute historical buildings (post house now cafe and courthouse below). We had lunch at the ‘World Famous Mangonui Fish Shop’. Seriously decadent and delicious whole crayfish was first course. This followed by battered Bluenose and chips. Together with an ice cold cider it was a perfect meal.
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A slow drive past Coopers Beach was followed by a stop at Cable Bay.
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Up next; 90 Mile Beach. This is pretty spectacular – miles and miles (55miles to be exact) of beach demarcated as a National Road. Speed limit on the beach is 100kmper hour. We did not go that fast. Because we pulled onto the beach, were arrested by the beauty of the site and immediately got stuck in the soft sand. One is meant to traverse quickly across the soft stuff onto the compact sand and then be arrested by the beauty of the site. Luckily a land cruiser with a chain was on hand and the driver kindly pulled our van out of it’s hole. Ryan then returned the favour and helped push a car out of the soft sand a little while later.
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We proceeded even further north to Pukenui to check in at our next campsite. While this site had a good view of the ocean, we ended up being placed on a site behind the owner’s house. We were sharing the backyard with their washline and farm animals. Not very cool. Took a drive back to the town we had passed on the way up, Houhora Falls, and checked into their holiday park instead. This holiday park was right at the edge of an ocean inlet complete with an island in the middle. Just beautiful.
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Our campervanning neighbours were very friendly. They told us of their wonderful trip to Cape Reinga that day. We’d planned on getting to that in the next few days and so this amped up the anticipation. Cleaned up the mussels for a creamy mussel pasta. Was not entirely successful, some of the mussels were sandy which was so yuck in amongst such incredible fresh and plump sea flavoured morsels.
Day 7: about 200km travelled
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