Heading North-ish
After my time in Piha, I was ready to slowly make my way North, but there were a few stops I wanted to make on the way! After unpacking my giant bag into my many handy storage compartments in Vandalf I wanted to get a few bits to make it more personal and organized, which started with a trip to Kmart!
Kmart and Warehouse have been the perfect places for everything I’ve needed (and didn’t need) for Vandalf. Fairy lights, blankets, storage boxes, all the organisers I’d need for every part of the van. I’ve got a cupboard full of pull of drawers and spinning compartments for my kitchen bits. Boot organisers for all my engine liquids and car bits, even pull-out drawers under my “kitchen unit” for a mini pantry and everything I needed in the way of electrical equipment, including a kettle, toaster, dual hob and air fryer (dad’s idea which was quite brilliant). My most used purchases are my fold out table tray for writing / watching and eating on my bed, as well as my waterless oil infuser so the van can smell of lemongrass or lavender.
So, after setting everything up during my stay at Anawhata (not far at all from Piha) I thought I’d try going a bit further, without so much as a rough plan on where I’d be heading to or staying.
My first wrong turn got me to the Woodhill Mountain Bike Park where Vandalf got incredibly dirty. I stopped long enough to pretend I was looking around before going back on the road towards Helensville. I stopped a short time after at the Kaipara Coast Plant centre where I went for a really long walk around their wild tracks after going through their sculpture walk, then bought myself two house plants, that are remarkably still alive 3 months later. Then I followed a brown tourist route sign to God knows what that took me along the high hills and windy roads of the Kaipara Flats. I stopped often to take in the beauty of the hills whilst listening to my Howard Shore soundtracks (and a bit of Gladiator) before going down a wrong road towards someone’s farm where I thought I was for sure about to be shouted at, but the kind truck driver asked if I was okay and pointed me back the right way, making it back on to the Twin Coast Discovery.
I had saved a camping site in Tapora, I remember mentioning that part to my friend from New Zealand who didn’t know where it was which probably should have been a sign enough to not bother…
Turns out that small chunk of the west doesn’t get many tourists going past Port Albert, which is probably as far as I should have got. Alas, Vandalf and I carried on through dirt roads right down to end finally making it to my home for the night. I’d paid on the campermate app to stay 2 nights. There was no signal but had toilet, shower and kitchen in a small communal area. The fridge was taken up with the most fish I’d ever seen outside a fish shop. A man and his daughter had had a successful trip and even prepared me a snapper! (which I saved for another day, and it was beautiful). The other man was a bird watcher and questioned why on earth I’d come all this way if I wasn’t fishing or an ornithophile. I decided I’d just stay the one night, but I did get a fish out of it and the bird watcher even gave me a few good walking destinations after saying “are you a walker?” Which was quite a nice thing for someone to ask!
I left the next morning not feeling too annoyed at my self for the lack of research, which is where you’d have thought I would look up where to go next. However, I ended up making further bad decisions following nowhere in particular a couple hours later.
On my roady app I’d seen a waterfall called Piroa Falls that was supposed to be beautiful so put it in google maps and followed the directions. I was taken on the dodgiest road so far, ‘Waipu Gorge Road’, that went on forever with no possible place to stop to see the waterfall or to even turnaround. It was narrow and some of the roads slopped down to the cliff end I had to drive as close as possible on the other side, whilst praying no one sped around the corner to meet me. I ended up going right over to Langs Beach and Manawgai Heads which I hadn’t planned on doing till my trip back down from the North land. I got myself a coffee and a croissant, trying not to feel too stressed before going back on the Highway to where I had originally turned off for the little adventure. It took a long time with queues of traffic but better than that gravel road. I finally got Dargaville hours later where I knew there was a few campsites. I had a walk around for 20 minutes before getting back in Vandalf to carry on. Apparently, it’s not an uncommon feeling when people visit Dargaville, I don’t know what it was, but I trusted my gut to move on. Stopped finally in Kaihu for the night – my first Top 10 experience. Ironically, it’s where my friends Leti and Layla had been not long before me, who said to go see the eels and glowworms under the bridge. I had my fresh fish for dinner and slept soundly despite the parties happening around me. Turns out it was a long weekend celebrating Anzac Day which explained the queues of traffic.
I left early the next morning hoping for a less chaotic journey. The road up from Kaihu along the Twin Coast Discovery was long, windy, and beautiful. I had no traffic behind me, a big coffee, and good tunes whilst driving through the Waipoua Kauri Forest. My first stop was Tane Mahuta, which was the perfect start to a beautiful site seeing journey, and I finally felt relaxed.
