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| 2014-10-11 click for more photo's |
11/10/2014
Opononi – Dargaville
We woke to a
beautiful sunny day with lovely views out to the bay. Most of our
clothes had dried out but unfortunately my brand new camera had
suffered rain damage and all photo's now show a blurry bit but at
least it is still functioning. The road remained quiet and became
very beautiful once we started climbing up into the subtropical
rainforest of Waipoua with it's many Kauri trees. We stopped off to
have a look at Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest estimated to be around
2000 years old and one of NZ largest trees. The Kauri trees with
their shallow fragile roots are now protected and we were surprised
to find numerous roadside places selling crafts made from Kauri wood
until it was explained to us that the wood used for crafts are all
from preserved dug up trees from peat swamps not from current trees.
So far the
going had been very pleasant even though we had climbed over 1200
meters so far but this soon changed. I expected an easy ride into
Dargaville but a fierce headwind put paid to that idea. Progress
became tediously slow and I was beginning to wonder if we would make
it into Dargaville before dusk. Luckily once we had descended to
nearer sea level I was able to tuck in behind Malcolm who bravely took
the brunt of the wind. We arrived in Dargaville around five and
really landed on our feet in the beautiful Commercial Hotel with the
incredibly friendly hosts Peter and Pam. The welcoming cup of tea
soon turned into wine [ provided by the landlady ]which was also
shared by our hosts friends and many travel adventure were shared in
this excellent company. All topped off by a visit with them to the
local Thai restaurant.
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| Kauri tree approximately 2000 years old |
every continent has his charmes
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