Six go a'travelling: Day 27 - Dargaville to Baylys Beach, Kai Iwi Lake, Opononi, Hokianga Ferry, Awanui

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Day 27 - Dargaville to Baylys Beach, Kai Iwi Lake, Opononi, Hokianga Ferry, Awanui

Day twenty-seven was a long but rewarding day. We covered more kilometres than normal but we wanted to do the bus trip to Cape Reinga while the weather is settled. We left Dargaville Motor Camp and drove to Baylys Beach with the thought of fishing but the sea was muddy and large so we continued on towards Opononi. We came to a sign that said Kai Iwi Lake so we drove in to view the lake and have morning tea. The camping area by the lake was beautiful and a lot of campers were present. It would be a great place to spend several days.

After morning tea we travelled on to Opononi stopping in the Waipoua Forest to view Tane Mahuta the largest kauri tree in New Zealand. The tree is massive, the forest beautiful and the hills steep and windy. At Opononi we parked by the harbour for our lunch. The harbour was discoloured but beautiful. We then carried on towards Kaitaia and went into Rawene to see if the ferry could carry the vans. It could and this saved about 80 k of travel. The ferry had four motorhomes and about eight cars. The crossing took about fifteen minutes and was the highlight of the day.

We then drove on towards Kaitaia and I thought the roads in the Waipoua Forest were steep. Some of the hills went up and up and ..., and were really windy and steep. When we arrived in Kaitaia we shopped for groceries and then drove on to Awanui to a camping ground where we can leave the buses tomorrow while we have a bus drivers holiday.