Northland and Hokianga

Tui on the flax plant outside the kitchen window

Me and the dogs!

Kohukohu General Store - it had everything in there!

Me and Louisa with the dogs on the Hokianga ferry

Cape Reinga pohutakawa tree where the souls depart for Hawaiiki

That white sand beach again

The meeting of the Tasman Sea and south Pacific

Looking south

The signpost Cape Reinga

Cape Reinga lighthouse

Our earlier trip up north to a bach near Hokianga harbour was going great, until the car decided to blow an ignition coil near Cape Reinga, frightening me as I had visions of huge repair bills as we were so remote. This cut short some of our planned schedule, but it was still a brilliant break. The bach was quirky - made from mud bricks and used a lot of bamboo in it's construction - hardly surprising as there were large amounts growing on the land nearby. Hokianga and it's environs were nice, but going north from there let us find some stunning, white sand beaches, almost like talcum powder or cornflour, squeaking under your feet as you walked on it.

Cape Reinga was nice, where the Pacific meets the Tasman sea, plus the lighthouse and sign post. It is a significant place in Maori culture as well, as it is believed to be the place the souls of the departed leave on their final journey to Hawaiiki. It was also stinking hot, with the sun melting the tar on the roads.

Although the journey back was a nightmare, it was an enjoyable trip, even though our son couldn't be with us due to work commitments.

Pancake Rocks,- Raglan

Another trip out on Sunday. Initially going to go to the Pacific beaches, last minute change - ended up going to Raglan again. There were a couple of changes of plan for various reasons, and we decided to go for a couple of caches that were over the other side - usually only accessed by boat, but we drove down a rough, winding track for a long way, the poor car! Lou brought her friend along as well, but wasn't too impressed with our venue this time, as it wasn't "normal Raglan" - we were on the opposite side of the harbour. We tried a bit of fishing, resulting in a snap off on the 3rd cast, so gave up on that. We also found the geocache that was hidden there and had a nice picnic lunch in the hot sunshine. There was another one to be found on the way back, and after a lot of cuts and prickles later, I finally found it hidden in an old Manuka tree.
We then ventured across to "normal Raglan", tried a bit of fishing from the pier with no luck, the usual bites from small fish as it was getting on towards low tide. As it was low tide, the kids and I armed ourselves with a chilly bin and ventured across the flats to the cockle beds. I am constantly amazed by the quantity and quality of the cockles here, let's hope they aren't spoilt by overfishing or pollutants. We didn't go to the mussel rocks as cockles are our favourites.
A fish and chip supper on the way home, watching the sun set, finished off a tiring but fun day, with another little scenic place found on our travels.