After giving back our campervan and renting a normal car we go north on North Island
Waipu
Today we landed in Waipu – a small village on the east bank.
There is a small shop (no 30m2), a cafe (as usual, there is also food), a campsite and a motel.
While walking through Waipu we found the following building – what is it for?
Well, guessed or seen? It is a public toilet and also offers free showers!
Here in New Zealand, virtually every village consist of more than 100 houses offers:
an i-site (tourist information, sometimes only a billboard but often enough a house), a museum, a war memorial and usually a public toilet – in most cases for free.
The beach is beautiful (much nicer than in Samoa).
Nice houses…
… and perfect weather!
The Waipu Museum treats the journey of the Scottish settlers on their way across Canada and Australia to New Zealand.
The priest Norman McLeod was the driving force. First his group emigrates to Canada but after some harvest disasters they decided to go to Australia. There they where struggled within a gold rush, so McLeod tried to find another solution – and they found New Zealand. Well the story is much more interesting – it was just a very short summary.
The museum is small but still very informative and worth a visit.
Whangarei, Kauri and Waterfall
Whangarei is a larger village – sorry, city of course (just under 90,000 inhabitants) with a beautiful harbor and a small forest with large kauri trees and a nice waterfall.
We walked along the shore at the harbor and looked at the artworks exhibited here.
Then we went to the forest to look at the big Kauri.
After a while hiking you will come to the waterfalls …
Tutukaka
Kasia chose the Pacific Rendezvous Motel Resort in Tutukaka for the night – and yes, that’s the name of the village!
The resort is located on a cliff with incredible views of the ocean and two bays.
Due to the stunning views, we decided to add another night and calmly plan our further journey while enjoying the view.
Kawakawa and the Hundertwasser Toilet
Yes, we saw them, the Hundertwasser toilet.
It is the public toilet in Kawakawa and you can find it in Google Maps ;).
There are still some houses that were designed by Hundertwasser, otherwise the place is quite bland.
90 Mile Beach
Is the longest continuous beach in the far north of New Zealand. You can also drive it by car – at low tide. With rental cars, it is prohibited.
We were at the southern end of the beach – unfortunately in bad weather.
Nevertheless impressive:
However, someone cheated on naming! The beach is only 55 miles (88km) long …