Day 1- Heading North on Our Own Route from Auckland to Houhora

This is the official Day 1 of MONZA. We had chosen to leave the group and take a different route and stay at a different hotel for the first two nights. The rest of the group was going to Pahia on the East Coast of the North Island, north of Auckland, and we chose to go up the Western side and stay there closer to Cape Reinga. Many of the group traveled from Pahia back over to Point Reinga which was a very long trip. Not to say that our Day 1 was short…. we didn't arrive at our hotel until 8:15 PM

The day started out with clear skies. We have found that the climate changes dramatically frequently in this country. So one can't expect the same weather in 2 hours as you have now.

From Copthorne Hotel Room

We headed out Highway 16 which quickly takes you out of the city onto a two lane highway.

Heading out on Highway 16 Northwest in the North Island

Beautiful Billowy Clouds

Naturally, we ran into the construction stops, as occur everywhere in the world, especially in summer time. However, to us the weather is very cool for summer. Kristi, our cat sitter said it was 72 degrees at home in the winter, which is the same as it was here in NZ today in the summer. 

Even Construction Here in NZ

Many Narrow One Lane Bridges

Continuing up the Western side of the North 

Don't know what this strange thing is?

White and Other Color Cows

We stopped at the Kauri Museum, and met up with Maggi and Gerry, and Vivian and Richard who had arrived via a different route. After grabbing a bit of lunch at the coffee shop, we headed into the Kauri Museum.

This is a magnificent museum primarily demonstrating history of the Kauri Tree harvesting, and the different woods of New Zealand and how they were used in the past. The harvesting was pretty devastating to the Kauri Trees. Many huge trees were found buried and excavated and found to be up to 40,000 years old and in good shape. 

After about two hours, we were tired and no longer could continue our visit and quickly made our way out and on the road again. Damn right hip...

Old Dresser from Kauri Wood and other woods

Replica Saw Mill 

Another Type of Saw

An Old Caterpillar Tractor

An Old Milking Machine

Huge Ferns in the Waipoua Kauri Forest

Guess who?

Elaine at Tane Mahuta - Largest Kauri Tree Alive    

We stopped to see the King of the Forest, which is very small compared to our Sequoia Trees in California.  

Giant ferns Along the Road

The giant ferns along the road remind us of Hawaii.

Rawene Ferry 

To save time  and distance we took a small ferry from Rawene across the inlet. Dinner was at McDonald's in Kaitaia.  We knew it would be late when we arrived north, so stopped for a quick meal. 

We arrived at Houhora Lodge after 8 PM, after driving about 260 miles, which in NZ is quite a drive. After a cup of tea and visiting with Jacqui and Bruce, our hosts, we crashed into a comfortable bed, and Day 1 was over.  

Houhura Lodge