3rd Entry

Today we woke up in a fishing/tourist village called, Mangonui, located on the northeast coast of the North Island. Rachael B. informed us that it was the best fish and chips in the world, and judging from our experience last night, I wouldn't dare contradict her!  We've never had red snapper as a battered fish meal, so it was a delectably delightful experience, to be sure!


For an interactive map, go to the following website;
http://www.nztourmaps.com/maps_northland.html
I'll try to always name the locations and towns as we go, so you'll all know better where we are.

Without further ado, then, we'll try to get the two prior days caught up in pictures;

After leaving Peter and Rachael's, we headed north. It was pretty much all suburban until we got about ten kliks north of Whangarei, (pronounced "fengaray"), when we came across the following idyllic scene of a sheep farm in the foreground with the ocean inlet in the back.

Scene north of Whangarei

Below you see a zoomed-in version of the above scene--just 

in case you thought we were making up the sheep farm part.

 Sheep escaping the mid-day sun in Whangerei

Just a little north of the sheep farm, the kids and Colleen suddenly screamed out, "Oh look! It's a treehouse!!" So Cal and I got out and walked the 1/2 km back, where he took the picture below;

Proving once again that New Zealanders are Living with the Birds

(This guy can honestly say "box of birds" when asked how he's doing!)

On the same property as the treehouse, the following photo was taken of his driveway entrance. Not a lot of people know this, but there is a Chinese variant of the California Redwood, as can be seen below. It's not as big as the California variety, but they're majestic nonetheless;

At Whakapara, we turned east onto the coastal road to Russell (Old Russell Rd.) What an astounding set of roads and awesome views! The road is freshly paved for he most part, but only about 1/2 to 2/3 as wide as our roads. Without the problems related to snow loads, I guess they're able to get away with it. We often encountered evidence of mudslides, however, and sometimes the debris covered full half of the road on the steep sides of some good-sized hills and small mountains.

Below, you see a picture of Elliot's Bay, 28km south of Russell where we returned to on Tuesday (your Monday) after staying the night in Russell. There, we swam and had a picnic for over two hours combined. The surf was awesome, and we had a great time diving into and playing in 8-10 foot high rolling breakers.

I don't know why, but the road maps are not all that accurate on the websites. The following link gives you a better idea of where it is; http://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Elliots

Elliot's Bay from the North

Some of the surf in Elliot's Bay, and a few over-sized albino penguins frolicking in the frothy spray!

Jay, Cal, & Cailin Diving into the Breakers

Elliot's Bay, NZ

Cal & Cailin, Elliot's Bay, NZ

 

To the right, you can see just one example of the windy nature of the Old Russell Rd. We had a great time navigating the apexes and esses, just like Mario Andretti...well, maybe not...

Just a minor example of the frequent mud slides on the coastal roadway. THERE ARE NO PLAINS IN NZ!!!!

Loma didn't know it, but they've got her farm waiting for her down here! (Thinking of you both, Bruce & Loma!)

In NZ, they have an interesting way of regulating narrow bridges; the direction with the right of way is shown in bold black, while the way which must yield is shown smaller and in red.

Another interesting thing they do here,  is capturing all the rain water off their roofs and using it as extremely tasty drinking and washing water. In this picture, you can see they share the same tank. (We think it's a church and a parsonage.)

(Thank goodness there's a bounty on pigeons!!)

           Cailin & Cal enjoying what Russell inhabitants call an Ice Cream Burger YUMM!!

Signing off from Downtown Russell (Mackinac Island of the Southern Hemisphere)!!!