V&T Daily
The latest travel news
|
|
coast to coast
Published in the July-September 2010 issue.
Lee Atkinson drives the Twin Coast Discovery Highway in Northland and uncovers the cultural birthplace of New Zealand.
Starting and finishing in Auckland, the Twin Coast Discovery Highway, one of New Zealand’s most stunning great drives, is an 800-kilometre journey through the subtropical, beach-strewn, forest-studded north of the country to the far northern tip of the North Island, Cape Reinga.
You really need a week or more to do this area justice, but we have just four days, so we take a few shortcuts here and there. We do have a secret weapon, however, to help us along the way: a GPS tour guide and companion we nickname Jono.
Jono is the voice inside the neat little invention called Kruse, a small black box that plugs into the cigarette lighter of your car and uses GPS technology to play commentary automatically as you drive. Jono becomes our best friend on the trip, giving us directions, Maori legends and potted histories of the places we’re driving through – akin to our very own tour guide. And when he’s got nothing to say, there’s ‘easy listening’ music so there’s no need to search out local radio stations.
We head off from Auckland on a startlingly sunny morning, crossing the harbour and winding our way up the Matakana Coast, a stretch of coastline dotted with deserted bays and small islands and home to lots of boutique wineries and art and craft galleries.
We stop for a coffee and light lunch at Morris & James Pottery & Tileworks, where we browse the showroom with its vibrantly glazed tiles and ceramics, then head to Pakiri Beach for a couple of hours of horse riding through pine forests and stands of pohutakawa – the red-flowered New Zealand ‘Christmas tree’, across the dunes and onto long deserted Pakiri Beach.
By late afternoon, we’re back on the road, aiming to get to Paihia, in the Bay of Islands, the holiday heartland of Northland, by day’s end. Situated on a curve of the bay opposite Russell in the Bay of Islands, it’s the jumping-off point for sailing tours, swimming-with-dolphin adventures, jet-boat trips, fishing charters, dive and snorkelling excursions, kayaking expeditions and a raft of day tours.
We take the 15-minute ferry trip across to Russell, a charming collection of elegant, historic waterfront homes that are a peaceful escape from the tourist hustle and bustle of Paihia. Formerly called Kororareka and, during the 19th century – when it was the shore-leave destination for sailors, whalers and traders – known as “the hell hole of the Pacific”, Russell, the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand, hides its tumultuous past well.
Historic buildings to visit include the Mission Pompallier, New Zealand’s oldest surviving factory, which began production in 1842 as a printery, bookbindery and tannery; and Christ Church, which still carries bullet-holes from the Maori Wars. We check out the view of the bay from the historic flagstaff, chopped down three times by Maori chief Hone Heke and sparking the Anglo-Maori wars of the mid-1840s, then head into Ngaiotonga Forest for a walk among giant kauri before hitting the sheds of the local oyster farms to take part in a tasting frenzy.
We spend the afternoon looking over the Waitangi Treaty House, New Zealand’s most historic site where, back in 1840, Maoris and Europeans joined in signing the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty House is set in a vast garden estate that incorporates a fully carved Maori meeting house, one of the largest Maori war canoes in the world, a visitor centre, a café and a gallery.
The previous evening, after a dinner of fish and chips on the beach (try One Hot Tuna on the main street for the best fish and chips in town), we had joined the Culture North Night Show at the meeting house in the Waitangi Treaty grounds. This theatre-cum-cultural show combines Maori culture, live drama, sound and lights and, through the eyes of a grandparent speaking with a grandchild, covers 1,000 years of New Zealand’s history, from the arrival of Kupe, the first Maori chief (and the man who reputedly discovered New Zealand) to the present day.
We set off early the next day in a brightly painted wooden waka – a traditional war canoe – with three very scantily clad Maori warriors for a Taiamai Tours’ waka tour.
The 90-minute tour begins with a karakia (prayer), then a spirited paddling session, complete with lots of warlike Maori chanting, to a secluded beach on an island called Motu Maire, where once, Ngapuhi warriors were trained in the art of ancient warfare. Here, after a spine-tingling traditional Ngapuhi challenge (tip: you will be expected to sing in response to the challenge, so unless you want to find yourself warbling “You are my sunshine…” with a bunch of strangers, bone up beforehand on the words to a more culturally-significant song), the warriors settle down to tell you stories of their ancestor, Kupe.
After some rather scary demonstrations of warrior warfare, it’s back into the waka for a trip out into the bay to one of the wild mussel beds. Here, we join the warriors in the water, gathering some shellfish, before heading back to Paihia where we finish up with a moving farewell prayer. It sounds a little naff but is actually a lot of fun and an enriching peek into a different culture, on a much more intimate and face-to-face level than you’ll find in most cultural song-and-dance shows.
But we can’t stay in the Bay of Islands forever so, armed with our bag of freshly harvested mussels, we head north to Kerikeri.
The area around Kerikeri is a foodies’ paradise and, after Jono has pointed out various crops beside the road and told us the agricultural history of the area, we make some important stops: for cellar-door tastings at a couple of wineries; some hand-made chocolate at Makana Confections; an olive-oil tasting session at Olivado; and a one-hour facial at Living Nature, where all the skincare products are made from plants grown locally.
Our goal for the day is to hit Kauri Cliffs an hour or two before sunset, so we have a quick look at the Kerikeri Mission House – built in 1821-22 and New Zealand’s oldest standing European building – then spear north towards Matauri Bay.
We stop for a while to enjoy the view as we sit, enthralled to Jono’s re-telling of the Rainbow Warrior scandal (the remains of the bombed-out Greenpeace ship that was blown up by French secret service agents in Auckland in 1985 now rest in the waters off Matauri Bay), before winding our away across the ridgeline to Kauri Cliffs.
Set on 2,630 hectares (6,500 acres), the lodge at Kauri Cliffs has spectacular 180-degree views of the Pacific Ocean. Even better is the view from any one of the 18 holes on the par-72 PGA championship cliff-top golf course that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. To play the inland holes, you wind through marsh, forest and farmland. Even non-golfers enjoy the course tour here, which is available on demand.
The lodge’s guest cottages sit on the edge of native forest and look out over the golf course, Pacific Ocean and offshore islands. And apart from the golf course, there’s an onsite spa, a couple of tennis courts and an infinity-edge swimming pool, plus several activities including picnics on private beaches, game fishing, scuba diving, snorkelling, sailing, sea kayaking, 4WD quad biking, horse riding, and hunting for boar, pheasant and possum, the latter considered a pest in NZ as allegedly, it is decimating the nation’s native forests.
Come morning, we realise it’s our last day and we’re only halfway through the trip, so we decide to take a short cut across to the west coast, to Omapere, saving a trip to Cape Reinga on the North Island’s tip for next time.
Jono tells us that Omapere, on the edge of Hokianga Harbour, is also known as Te Kohanga o Te Tai Tokerau – ‘the nest of the northern tribes’ – and that it is the central point from which most Northland Maori trace their ancestry. It was also Kupe’s landing place.
Just up the road is Waipoua Kauri Forest, home to the largest trees in New Zealand and the second-largest in the world, so we join local Maori tour company, Footprints – Waipoua, to take us into the forest and tell us the myths, legends and songs behind these gigantic trees. Our guide, Joe, takes us deep into the forest, explaining the uses of several of the plants, and introduces us to ‘The Lord of the Forest’, Tane Mahuta around 1,250 years old and the largest living kauri in the world. Joe also shows us ‘The Father of the Forest’, Te Matua Ngahere, much wider of girth than Tane Mahuta but not as tall to the first branch – which, apparently, is the way these things are measured – and, at an estimated 2,000 years of age, the oldest kauri still living.
We’re a little over three hours’ drive from Auckland, so we say goodbye to the forest gods and head due south along the coast back to the city, stopping halfway for vanilla slices and cups of tea at the old-fashioned tea-rooms at Matakohe.
Across the road is The Kauri Museum, a sprawling edifice dedicated to the giant trees with great displays on the history of the forest industry, pioneering stories and photographs, the largest collection of kauri gum in the world, plenty of restored machinery and some beautiful kauri furniture.
Just on sunset, we cross back over the Harbour Bridge in Auckland, say farewell to our tireless Kruse guide, Jono, and head for home. •
Photography by Lee Atkinson and Tourism New Zealand.
TRAVEL FACTS
getting there
getting around
- AAT Kings, phone 1300 556 100 or visit www.aatkings.com.au
- Creative Holidays, phone 1300 747 400 or visit www.creativeholidays.com.au
- Driveaway Holidays, phone 1300 723 972 or visit www.driveaway.com.au
- Green Realm, phone +64 9 300 3085 or visit www.greenrealmtravel.com
- Kirra Holidays, phone 1800 007 373 or +64 3 355 0492 or visit www.kirratours.co.nz
- Platinum International Travel, phone
02 9264 4344 or visit www.platinuminternationaltravel.com.au
- Avis, phone 13 63 33 or visit www.avis.com.au
- Australian Pacific Touring, phone 1300 336 932 or visit www.aptouring.com.au
- Evergreen Tours, phone 02 4929 4333 or visit www.evergreentours.com
- Qantas Holidays, phone 1300 HOLIDAY or visit www.qantas.com.au
- Scenic Tours, phone 02 8274 1300 or visit www.scenictours.com
where to stay
- Kauri Cliffs offers luxury lodge accommodation and a cliff-top golf course near Matauri Bay in Northland. Phone +64 9 407 0010 or visit www.kauricliffs.com
where to do
- Taiamai Tours runs Maori cultural tours around the Bay of Islands. Phone +64 9 405 9990 or visit www.taiamaitours.co.nz
- Footprints – Waipoua operates a signature night tour of the Waipoua kauri forest. Phone +64 9 405 8207 or toll-free (in New Zealand) 0800 687 836 or visit
www.footprintswaipoua.com
further information
|
|
|
V&T Takeoff
Updates from our editors and writers
 |
The team from the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau were in town last week to update Australia on some of the BIG things happening in the Texan state. |
 |
V&T mag dropped into Bali last month and helped the W Retreat & Spa celebrate their 2nd anniversary and what a splash it was. With local and international fashion designers on display, the W Lounge was transformed into a catwalk party zone. 2500 people flowed through the resort late into the night, moving to NYC DJ Sandy Rivera. This was the biggest ticket in Bali for some time and the resorts pulling power is a testament to just how hot this property and international hotel brand actually is.www.vacationsandtravelmag.com/Mca/874/765/3/0/0/#takeoff1 How did we cope the next day? Poolside. Don’t wait until their 3rd anniversary as the vibe, sound and style of this resort makes for a very cool holiday. In the heart of Seminyak and right on the beach, Bali beckons. |
 |
Thanks to our friends at Air France we got out of the office for the day and enjoyed a great round of golf at the annual Financial Markets Charity Golf Day and Gala Dinner. Held annually in February, this event as well as the Financial and Media Markets Charity Sailing Regatta in October raises AU$1.2 million for a wide range of charities.The ASX Group and Thomson Reuters Australia (formerly Reuters) joined forces in 1999 to form a Charity Foundation with the objective of helping Australian-based children, disability and medical research charities by organising fundraising events in conjunction with the Financial Markets. Pictured here: Thomas Reeves Air France, Middle, Patrick Benhamou, Atout France; Anthony Gallagher Vacations & Travel magazine. |
 |
Vacations & Travel magazine rubbed shoulders with local and international buyers and sellers of travel from around the globe at 2013 AIME (Asia Pacific's Incentive Meeting Expo). This is the biggest event on the Australian travel industry calendar, where key decision makers congregate to network over a three-day event of hosted parties, trade and leisure travel meetings and press conferences. |
 |
The who's who of Sydney's entertainment industry turned up for the recent opening of the city's newest hotel to receive a makeover, The Parkroyal. Located in Darling Harbour, the property has just emerged from a milt million-dollar makeover to reveal striking rooms and seriously sexy public spaces. Speaking of sexy, some of the celebs on hand to celebrate the re-launch included Casey Burgess, Danielle Blakey and Amy Milne, not to mention Timomatic who entertained the crowds into the witching hours… |
 |
 |
|
