A lot of jobs for backpackers recommend that they have a car, so after some discussion, we thought it would be a good idea to have a look for one. There was a folder of cars for sale in our hostel, so we had a browse through and picked a couple of reasonable ones out to have a look at. And so our Saturday was spent training around greater Auckland in pursuit of some wheels. The first one we saw was in a dodgy looking area that we didn't particularly want to hang around in. Charlotte gave it a test drive but wasn't convinced when she arrived back, so we decided to go and check out our second one. We gave the "we'll get back to you" line and headed off. The second one was in a much nicer area ( not that that really mattered as they were all backpackers cars) and I went with Charlotte on the test drive. The first one we had tested had been a large people carrier, whereas this one was a smaller estate car. By the time we arrived back, Charlotte was pretty convinced this one would be a good purchase. It was very cheap (£950), had a low mileage, all the service invoices with it and the man selling seemed very nice. Unfortunately, Charlotte and I are not knowledgable about cars in any way, so we're taking a stab in the dark. We agreed to buy it and told him we'd be by Monday to pick it up.
Monday came and we caught the train back out with a large wad of cash in our pockets, ready to buy our first ever car. As if things couldn't get any better, we had a phone call on our way with a lady called Carol who told us we'd pretty much got a job picking mandarins that would last for atleast 4 weeks. We had to change the registration of the car at the post office and then it was ours (well Charlotte's technically). We filled up the tank and drove back into Auckland to pick up our bags and check out our hostel. We had one more night in the city but at a different, quieter hostel to the one we'd been staying in since we arrived. That night, we decided our plan of action.
The job offered was in the town of Kaitaia, which is almost as far north as you can get on the North Island. It was a 4 hour drive from Auckland, so we decided to break it up a bit and stopped for the night in the town of Whangarei, which was roughly halfway. When we'd bought the car, it had come with a tent, an inflatable matress, cook wear and cutlery, so we were pretty well set up for camping. We decided that camping would be a good way to keep accommodation prices down whilst travelling round the country. We set up the tent we received, which turned out to be a bit of a letdown. It was a little bit mucky and had definitely been used on a beach before it got packed away for the final time. We decided to drive to the local shops and try and pick up a cheap one for ourselves, in the hope we could clean and sell the one that had come with the car. A short drive and $40 (£20) later we had a new tent and we returned to the campsite to set it up. What we hadn't accounted for, atleast in Whangarei, were the ravenous mosquitos. There were swarms of them around our tent and by the morning we must have been approaching triple figures in bites. Our new tent had done well overnight, despite it being a tight fit with the not so inflatable mattress. There was a huge hole in it and despite Charlottes best efforts to patch it up, nothing would work. In the bin it went. We packed the tents away and continued north to Kaitaia. We had arranged to meet Carol there but when we arrived at the accommodation a member of staff informed us that she wasn't in today. We were slightly peeved as we had told her 2 days before that we would be there, but she had clearly forgotten. We made a quick decision to find a campsite nearby and hold up until Monday, when we'd come back and try again. We stopped by the supermarket to pick up some food and while we were sat in the car, the heavens opened. Rather than put the tent up in the rain, we booked a cabin for a night in a place called Whatuwhiwhi (Fat-oo-fee-fee).
The site was a bit of a drive out of town but it seemed like a nice area. For most of the night the rain was hammering down and it was relief not to be out in the tent. The next morning was beautiful, so we decided to check out of the cabin and move to a tent pitch to air out the tents. On our way through Kaitaia, we had stopped off at a shop called The Warehouse and picked ourselves up a new inflatable mattress. All set up it looked pretty cosy but it didn't last long. For some reason, we'd popped back into town (a half hour drive away) and while we there it started pouring again. By the time we arrived back at the site, our "waterproof" tent had turned out to be not so waterproof. We were frustrated and annoyed at ourselves for going too cheap. We decided to drive back to town, buy a third tent (we had gone from none to 3 in 4 days), drive back to the site and try that one out. We got it up and ready just before the sun went down. At over $100 more expensive than the previous one we had bought, our fingers were firmly crossed that this one would keep the weather out. We could tell from the look, feel and size that it was far superior.
We had a good night sleep, although there had been no rain to test how waterproof it was. The weather was fine all day as we admired our 3 tents and tidied up our already messy car. Thanks to the warm weather, we managed to get the 2 tents we weren't using cleaned and packed away. We'd also given the shop we'd bought the tent from a call and they said they'd give us a full refund when we returned it with the receipt.
Saturday 16th April
By the next day, we were bored stiff and decided to head out. We drove to Kaitaia (for about the hundredth time) and stopped off at the tourist info centre to see what there was to do around these parts. Not a lot was the answer but we decided to go to a place called Cape Reinga and picked up a road atlas just incase we got lost. Cape Reinga is like New Zealand John O'Groats. It's the most northerly point (apart from a head of land just to the east, which is slightly more northerly but Cape Reinga has a lighthouse and is steeped in Maori tradition). Despite not looking far on our map, it was a long, windy (as in bendy, not blowy) and fairly boring hour and a half drive up, which wasn't helped by it pouring with rain the entire way. When we reached the top it almost seemed like a hurricane was ploughing through the area. The car was shaking in the gusts and the rain was falling sideways. In fact, come to think of it, it was like John O'Groats in more ways than one. We dabbled with the idea of getting out the car but the other people dashing from their cars to the covers of the toilets didn't exactly sell it to us. To pass the time, we ate our lunch and finally managed to make a break for it when we eyed the storm was over head. There were a few long walks nearby but due to the changeable weather, we opted just for the short trip up to the lighthouse. It was 10 minutes down a windy path to Cape Reinga lighthouse and, just like John O'Groats, a sign pointing out the mileage to all sorts of cities in every direction. What we found most impressive is that you can see the point where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet for an unwinnable fight against one another. It really is like the irresistible force meets the immovable object. As I mentioned, the Cape is also a significant location in Maori culture as it is said to be the jumping off point for the spirits of the Maori people to enter the underworld to. After hanging around for 10 minutes or so, taking some photos and enjoying the view, we returned to the car just before the rain began again. We were annoyed at the weather and annoyed at ourselves because we knew the forecast but, it got us out and about for the day. The drive home was just as bad as the drive up. The rain seemed worse and we were just hoping that either our tent had survived or, even better, that it hasn't rained where we're staying. It turned out it had been raining where we were staying but it was dry as a bone inside, so we were pretty chuffed.
Monday 17th April
We packed away our tent and drove to Kaitaia in order to meet Carol. Thankfully, this time, she was in and we were run through what the job would be, what the accommodation would be and so on and so forth. They wanted us to check in to Main Street Lodge (the accommodation) there and then but considering the work wasn't due to start for another week, we weren't so keen on that idea. Instead, we drove back down to Whangarei in order to return our tent and recoup a little bit of the money we had spent since arriving in New Zealand. We spent a night in a cabin in Whangarei as Charlotte was coming down with a cough and the first lot of mosquito bites hadn't stopped itching.
Tuesday 18th April
We headed west from Whangarei, towards the west coast and stopped off in the town of Dargaville. An optional extra with the purchase of the car was a single mattress which we had initially thought we would use but quickly realised was unnecessary and took up far too much room. Fortunately, there was a Salvation Army shop in the town who took it off our hands. We dropped it off outside where they told us too and escaped quickly before they could change their minds. We'd picked a campsite that was about 20km north of town in a lovely spot. We set up our weatherproof tent and set about to exploring the site, not yet realising what a stupid idea that would turn out to be. The campsite was almost completely encircled by a river and we stopped off at a few spots to have a look. Our last port of call was a line of stepping stones crossing the rather fast flowing river to the opposite bank. Now,what possessed me to think it was a good idea to start to cross those stepping stones is anyone's guess but what was more odd is what was going through my mind when I thought it was a good idea to stop on one of the stones and evaluate my position. I could feel myself falling helplessly backwards into the water. "Never fear" I thought, some kind sole had put a handy rope across in line with the stones so explorers like myself could easily keep their balance. How wrong I was. SPLASH!! But I somehow managed to pull myself up with the rope but overbalanced again and this time fell flat on my face the other side of the stones. All the while, Charlotte was standing at the side, trying not to die of laughter. Eventually, I managed to scramble to the bank and pull myself out. Instinctively, my hand fell to my pocket to make sure my phone was, at the very least, still there. There was only wet, empty pocket though. It had fallen out during my impromptu dip. I was very annoyed at myself for even venturing onto the stepping stones, let alone not emptying my pockets before I did. I had to give up the phone as I didn't want to end up in the water again, so i trudged back to the tent with Charlotte and got into some dry clothes.
Wednesday 19th April
While we were in Whangarei we had been bitten to death by mosquitos. In our current location, it was something slightly smaller causing just as much agony. Tiny little black bugs would be crawling up and down our ankles all day and we could feel a sharp stick when they bit. We found out that they were sand flies and that in certain parts of New Zealand, they can be "prolific". The bite they left us with were time little red dots on our skin that looked pretty innocuous, but they were twice as itchy as any mosquito bite. We itched our ankles raw with anything we could find. Anyway, we had come to the west coast to see a bit of scenery and started off by going to the Kai Iwi lakes. They were a 20 minute drive away and we went there after a brief visit to Dargaville to pick up a few extra camping items. To be honest, by the time we got there it was almost 2 o'clock and our enthusiasm for the day was waning fast. We attempted a walk that would take us around the lakes but didn't get very far. The pathway wasn't clear and seemed to go in 10 different directions. We were also worried about where we had parked our car. It was visible from the main road and there was no one else around, so we gave up a short way into the walk and walked back to the car. We deliberated what we should do and decided to turn off on to a road that went round part of the lake. The road just sort of ended and we came into a nice looking campsite right on the lakeshore. It seemed like quite an idyllic place, so we parked up, knowing that the car would be a lot safer and went for a wander along the sandy beach. After the beach we followed a track along the shore for a while, before turning back and heading back to the car.
Thursday 20th April
We were more eager to get out and about today and started off towards a different campsite that was further down the road we were staying on. We weren't planning on staying at this site, we just wanted to have a look at it. Across New Zealand there are 200 campsites run by the Department of Conservation. The facilities at the various sites vary greatly and the price per night reflects what is on offer. This particular one was $10 a night which is the middle of the spectrum. The most expensive is $20 which is pretty much a fully serviced campsite and the cheapest is free, where you are lucky to have running water or toilet facilities. This one had caught our eye because it was almost the only one on the North Island that provided hot showers and stoves to cook. We had a look around and were fairly impressed at what 10 dollars could get you. At the back of the site was a gate that led into a small forest which had a short loop walk in it. There were signs by the entrance saying we were entering a kiwi zone. We also had to give our shoes a scrub and rinse as the Kauri tree can be found in the forest. We had to disinfect due to the ongoing threat of Kauri dieback, which is transported by dirty shoes and camping equipment and is killing all the ancient kauri trees in New Zealand. The kauri trees were almost wiped out when the white man first arrived in New Zealand due to it good quality wood but it had started to grow back, until kauri dieback started reducing the numbers again. The kauri are known for being able to grow to huge sizes and live for thousands of years. There were a few small ones in this forest but we had read that there were other, much larger ones nearby, that we were planning on visiting the following day. We finished the loop, slightly disappointed we didn't see any kiwis, irrespective of the fact that they are nocturnal. We went back to the car and drove to our second stop of the day. We turned down on to an unsealed road and eventually came out in a tiny village located under an imposing cape and just up from the roaring Tasman Sea. We parked up and pondered the walk up to the top of the cape. We decided against it as the day was getting on and it was a 3 hour walk. Instead, we opted to head down the track and on to the wide sandy beach. Despite it being a fairly nice, calm day, the beach was taking an absolute battering from the relentless waves and the noise was really something to behold. The track down to the beach was for 4x4 cars. New Zealand have a strange situation where there beaches double up as a highway for anyone crazy enough to want to brave the waves and sand and drive their off-road vehicles on the beach. We would have but our Mitsubishi Legnum estate was far too low to be able to make it down the rough road. We could see a car parked underneath the cap next to some rocks and started heading in that direction for no real reason, as we weren't going to talk to the people in the car. Once we were in the shadow of the cape, we turned round and started walking in the opposite direction. Along the way we passed a family of 4, all with huge backpacks on their backs, who must have been on a walking holiday. Not long after them, we spied something that you don't really expect the see on a beach. A national speed limit sign. On the reverse of it was one reading 30, probably because the vehicle would be fast approaching a "built up area". It wasn't long after that that a car sped past us heading towards the cape. It's something that we are still struggling to get our heads round. The country has miles and miles of deserted road and off-road track, yet they still feel the need to drive on their beaches too, as a pedestrian, it's a little bit worrying walking along a beach when you know there could be a car speeding up behind you and you can't hear it over the roar of the ocean. Anyway, we had no trouble and turned round when we got to a river. When we got back to the car, the backpacking family were sprawled in a heap at the side of the road, taking it in turns to use the local public toilet. We gave them a friendly vein and headed back to our campsite.
Friday 21st April
This as our last day as proper tourists for a while. We were driving up the west coast, back to the town of Kaitaia and checking into the accommodation that we would be staying in whilst working. We had a couple of stops to make along the way though, mostly involving sizeable trees. The first stop was off the highway and along an unsealed road to a lookout building in Waipoua Forest. The 2 men in front of us seemed pretty underwhelmed by the views though saying "it's just a load of trees isn't it". I'm not sure on the definition of forest but I think that's pretty close to the mark. We rejoined the highway and drove the short distance to our next stop. The car park here was manned by an elderly gentleman leaning against his car, reading his newspaper who was apparently keeping an eye on the cars due to there being a lot of theft in the past. We believed the sign and gave him the 2 dollars it asked us too. We were heading into dense kauri forest and so had to give our shoes a scrape' a brush and a soak before entering. There were a number of walks in the area that led to various large kauri trees. The first we went on was to one known as the four sisters, which is 4 trees located right next to one another. The second walk was slightly longer and went to the second largest kauri in New Zealand. It certainly was a hefty piece of wood. We admired it for a short while and then headed to the third and final walk. Looking back we should have done this one second as it was the longest walk of the lot but only went to the seventh largest kauri tree. It was noticeably smaller than the second largest but what was good about this one is that it had a boardwalk that circled right round the tree so that you could stand right next to it. We took a few selfies and panoramas and then headed back to the car. It was nice to see our $2 worked and our car was still sitting where we had left it. On our way out we had to disinfect our shoes once more before moving on to the final tree visit of the day. 5 minutes drive down the road was a car park to visit "Tāne Mahuta". The biggest living kauri tree known to man. It really was huge and a very impressive sight. It seemed to have its own clearing amongst the other forest trees. Tāne Mahuta means Lord of the Forest and its not hard to see why it was named that. After some photos with the almighty tree we walked back to the car and carried on our drive north. We made a quick pit stop at a place called Hokianga harbour along the way. There was a short walk to a viewing platform that looked out across the Tasman Sea and over the harbour. After the walk, we made ourselves some sandwiches and ate them in the car whilst considering our next move. We opted to get the car ferry across the harbour rather than go the long way round on the highway. We immediately regretted our decision when we parked up in the ferry, the man came round with the tickets and informed us it would cost $22. We were even more annoyed when he told us he didn't have enough change to give us back. The short 10 minute trip was spent rummaging through the car to try and find the money it would take for him to be able to give us a 5 dollar note back. Eventually, we found what we needed, but just before we disembarked, we told him and he seemed reluctant to settle the debt. We told him we weren't in a rush and so we waited just off the ferry at the side of the road. Charlotte walked back and sorted it out as we were determined he wasn't going to fleece us. We were pretty sure he had pulled the wool over many unsuspecting persons eyes using that trick (2 good sheep jokes there, which seem appropriate for a place like New Zealand). We drove the remaining hour or so to Kaitaia and checked into Main Street Lodge. Despite messaging ahead that we would be arriving, it had obviously not been communicated and the staff weren't expecting us. We still managed to get it sorted and got put in a house with around 8 people, who were there either working for accommodation or waiting for the mandarin season to start. We were just approaching a long weekend and the job wasn't due to start until the Tuesday, so we had time to settle in and get to know our housemates.
Sorry it's taken a while Peter, I hope it was worth the wait!
James and Charlotte
