Today we set off for home. It’s a bit over 700 Km, or 10 hours driving. Chances are we’ll stop overnight somewhere. With dogs in the car we take frequent breaks anyway.
At AH Reed park in Whangārei there is a merely 500 year old Kauri tree. There’s also an obligatory shoe cleaning station, on account of kauri dieback disease.
Photos: shoe cleaning station; 500 year old kauri; information board about the life of a kauri tree.
The Otuihau Whangārei waterfall is 26.3m high and falls over basalt cliffs.
Yesterday at the Whangarei Kiwi House and Museum I saw an actual Brown Kiwi feeding. The need for dark and quiet meant no photos allowed. This Victorian taxidermied bird with replica real-size egg will have to do. 🐦
Giant Kokopu at the Whangarei Kiwi House and Museum. A coastal species of fish endemic to New Zealand.
3 baby and 2 adult Oystercatchers at Uretiti Beach near Whangarei. 🐦
Photo: looking at Hen and Chicken Islands from Uretiti dog beach near Marsden Point (on the Bream Bay coast). It's an East Coast beach.
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You are blogging to express yourself, make friends, develop your own ideas, learn about other lives, expand your understanding of the world, get advice or support, offer advice and support to others — or just for fun.
The Hokianga Harbour is astonishingly beautiful.
A single photo just can’t show how huge Tāne Mahuta is.
Today we aim to visit Tāne Mahuta, a tree that stood on this land for 1,000 years before people arrived and is still standing strong.
Stewart Island named a Dark Sky Sanctuary
The Whangarei Basin is a lovely spot on a very hot Saturday morning. The market stalls had variety.
Hah, haven't seen one of these nice timeline adjacencies since I left Twitter. What will drive you? This Maserati?
Our friends in Whangarei have the most beautiful Belgian Shepherd dog. About 5 years old. 🐶
We were suddenly presented with these two huge sculptures on a hill as we rounded a corner (but couldn't take photos till we were down the hill). Absolutely stunning, along with others, including the one like a deckchair. By Kaipara Harbour, and a highlight of the day.
As we crossed the Bombay Hills yesterday farmers were harvesting spring onions. What a stench! I’d hate to live downwind of that.
We had a good night in Auckland with a friend, but today we head for our ultimate destination: Whangarei. It’s only another 3 hours I believe, traffic willing.
We stopped along the Desert Road (just before the best viewing spot…) and I hauled out the good camera with the zoom lens for a couple of shots of Mt Ruapehu. Amazing to think we can sometimes see the very top of this from our kitchen window.
Huntly coal fired power station looks good. We also saw a train load of coal arriving. Time for this one to cease production.
