Today we were heading to Bayswater, across the harbour from Auckland. Rather than re-trace our route back to the Auckland area, we headed south down the west side of the north peninsula. Phil, the host and owner of our apartment gave us a tip for a shortcut to bypass Kaitaia. I’m not sure it was a shortcut. I don't think I have ever driven as long stretch or road with as many turns and elevation changes. Narrow, no shoulders and about 10 km of it was gravel (oops, violated the rental agreement on the car). We finally joined up with SH1 and drove to the car ferry for a trip across Hokianga Harbour.
The map of our route today is below.
There were a few scenic overlooks along the way. Opononi & Omapere had a nice overlook of the coast and harbour.
We entered the Waipoua Forest and took a break to go and see the largest Kauri tree. This is bigger in diameter than the largest Sequoias in the US. Tane Mahuta (the name of the Maori forest God) is 51.5 m hight with a girth of 13.8 m and a wood mass of 244 cubic metres.
Following along the coastal scenic route we ended our drive of the day in Bayswater across the harbour from Auckland. Our hotel/apartment had a great view of the harbour, the city and the bridge.
We enjoyed our complimentary glass of wine on the terrace and decided to stay for a BBQ dinner special. There was hardly anyone there so we were a bit dubious but were pleasantly surprised with our steak and grilled veggie dinners. The sun was setting so it afforded a nice photo op.
For such a nice (and expensive) hotel, you would think they could get their wi-fi to work better. Couldn’t get much more than one page click before it would lock out so after much frustration, gave up on pushing out today’s blog and will wait until the next hotel.
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