Tapotupotu Bay, Te Paki, and Back

Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Kaitaia

It didn't take much convincing to get us to camp at Tapotupotu Bay on Monday night, for another $15. It is one of the most beautiful places I've been, I think, and in spite of the mosquito issue (more on this in a minute), it was one of my favorite places that we've camped in New Zealand. We arrived at Tapotupotu Bay (also spelled Taputaputa) at about 3 PM on Monday, after visiting Cape Reinga. I had been to Tapotupotu to surf before, but that was on a somewhat gray day. This one was vividly sunny, and the colors of the water, the hillsides, and the white beach were spectacular. The surf wasn't any good, but we spent the entire afternoon in our bathing suits, swimming and bodysurfing in the warm, clear Pacific (until we discovered a stingray swimming with us- you can bet we got out REAL fast after that), laying in the sand tanning, and exploring and swimming in the tidal river that flows beside the camping ground. The water at Tapotupotu, both in the sea and in the river, was some of clearest I've seen, and it was incredibly refreshing. The whole place was just so beautiful, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. In the evening, our hopes of bathing in the tidal river were thwarted by the discovery that the saltwater soap we bought was in fact a complete dud, so settled for a very chilly shower at the campsite showers, then a rinse in the warm water from our solar shower. We went to bed clean, tan, and happy.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

 Our campsite

 Me attempting (and failing) to launch the micro-kite that Matt's mom sent us for Christmas

 Matt had no luck either

 Beautiful Taputaputa Bay

View from our campsite (the spraypainted van next to ours is a Wicked Camper, from one of many campervan rental companies in New Zealand)

A tiny tiny snail that Matt discovered on the van.

Sunset over the bay.

Our contentedness in the evening was short-lived, due to infiltration of our van by scores of mosquitoes. Upon inspection the next morning, it was discovered that the mosquito-screen frame that Matt had made did not take into consideration a little, hardly-noticeable gap made when the sunroof is opened, too small for us to notice, but plenty big for hordes of mosquitoes to fly through. At Rarawa we dealt with a fair few mosquitoes, but there must have just been a massive hatch or something at the Tapotupotu campground, because killed upwards of 50 just that night. It was absolutely horrendous, and we got little sleep. Our strategy has been to close all the windows and put the screen in the sunroof, for ventilation as the nights are much too warm to sleep without airflow. There was nothing for it- they were getting in and we couldn't tell where, so we were wake until early morning, smashing as many as we could, and finally put in earplugs and sprayed ourselves all over with bug repellent. We both woke up covered in bites and resolved to come up with a better system for keeping "mozzies" out of the van. 

 The gore all over the inside of the van from smashing so many mosquitoes inspired Matt to draw this on the ceiling of the "bed cave."

Just a fraction of the carnage, photographed before we cleaned the ceiling. Ugh. 

Yesterday afternoon we drove to the giant sand dunes at Te Paki stream, with intentions of going duneboarding. However, we soon discovered that the cost of renting a boogie board was $15 per hour, and NO SHARING! according to the vendor's sign (which, how do you enforce that, when it's a 20 minute walk from there to the dunes?). We figured we can go duneboarding for free at several different sites in Oregon, and I'd done it at Te Paki already anyway. So we went for really nice walk down the stream, looking at the very unique landscape. The sand in the dunes is not local, it was actually carried there by currents after massive eruptions by the big volcanoes in the center of the island thousands of years ago. When you look at the size of the dunes, it really makes you think about the size of eruption it would take to displace that much sand. 

The vertical line up the dune in the distance is a bunch of tourists climbing up to sandboard down. 

 A tour bus driving down the stream bed. Loads of buses drive up to Cape Reinga from Kaitaia, then go south with a stop for duneboarding, then drive all the way back on Ninety Mile Beach.

 Enjoying the scenery and sun.

Amazing erosion formations in the sand.

After leaving the dunes, we drove all the way back to Kaitaia, stopping at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom showroom in Awanui. This workshop does amazing things with 45,000-year-old Kauri wood that has been dug up from swamps in the area. Some unknown disaster thousands of years ago felled loads of huge Kauri trees into bogs around the area, and the wood was perfectly preserved for 40,000-odd years. Huge pieces have been hauled out, carved, polished, etc. It's really incredible. Matt took pictures of everything for inspiration in his woodworking, and we bought a couple small blocks of unworked wood to make our own souvenirs out of. 

 Bench made from a single massive Kauri stump

This whole building was built around this massive spiral staircase, carved into a single huge trunk. The tree would have been thousands of years old when it fell, and was preserved for thousands more. 

We camped last night at Lake Ngatu, just outside of Awanui, and after some modifications to our mosquito screen, had a very restful night. (We have plans to buy a new piece of screen and make velcro mounts for it on the inside of the van roof, which should hopefully solve the problem altogether). We took a swim in the very warm lake and bathed and rinsed with the solar shower, and enjoyed the beautiful setting. There were fliers all over the entrance to the lake, announcing a Wetlands Day celebration that would happen this morning, starting with dawn ceremonies at 6 AM. The whole thing was going to be put on by the local Iwi (tribe), the Department of Conservation, and the local councils, with a free breakfast and kapa haka (haka, or traditional dance teams) and traditional paddling, so we decided it would be a cool thing to attend. So we set the alarm and got up at 5:45 AM this morning and packed the van in the humid, sticky dark, and drove down to the other end of the lake for the gathering. It was really really cool, starting with everyone processing behind the Maori elders to where the kapa haka group was waiting. There were many traditional songs and haka, loads of speeches in Maori, launching of a miniature keti (reed) waka, or canoe by a paddling crew in an outrigger waka, and a taniwha, or peace dragon paraded around, which was made by local school children from the sails of the Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace vessel that was famously sunk off of the Bay of Islands. We were so lucky to randomly get to participate in a local event celebrating the beautiful lake and wetlands there, watch the sun come up, and see a live haka and witness some traditional Maori ceremonies. We also got a free hot breakfast, and were up far earlier than we have been in the last month! 

 Kapa haka performance as the sun comes up

The lake and our campsite just after sunrise

The surf report looks good, so we're going to head back to Ahipara today and see if we can get a good surf in, and we'll see where we go from there. We have a few more days to wander around before arriving at the farm in Kerikeri, but there is so much to see in this region that we should have no problem keeping busy! We're enjoying spending most of a week on Page 1 of our atlas (yes, page 1!) 

We have met with a few challenges, like the &%$# mosquitoes and Matt not feeling well for a day or two, but altogether are still having a great time. The weather has been wonderful, if very very hot while driving, and we have settled into the rhythm of life on the road. It's been a week and a half (nearly) since we left New Plymouth, and it already feels like we've been footloose like this forever. We've seen so much, and have our travel routines back in place. We are a well-oiled machine now, routinely going through the tasks it takes to keep us rolling, like filling up our water containers whenever we see a tap, draining the water off the ice in the chilly bin, buying produce from honesty boxes on the side of the road, and taking our time in the mornings. We drink tea, eat a hot breakfast, and enjoy our surroundings before falling into the ritual of repacking the van and stowing our gear. There is a happy method to our madness, with systems for dishwashing, an order to our roadside chores, and the ultimate rule of van life: a place for everything, and everything in its place! The van tends to explode at night as we clear everything off the bed and into the front seats, so mornings mean shifting everything back into its bin or cubby, remaking the bed, pulling the surfboards out from underneath and putting them on top of the bed, piling the pillow just so, so that they don't block the driver's rearview, and making sure the waterbottles are in their place just behind the seats where we can get to them.

And, even in the van, we get to sleep under the stars, which are brighter and more abundant than I've ever seen. Sleeping in the presence the Southern Cross every night is something we'll savor, an indicator of our presence on the far side of the world.