Five go wild in the North (update)

3 June 2009 : Five brave souls ventured North into forecasts of tornadoes, whirpools and pestilences of frogs, scorpions etc.

As it transpired, we had (mostly) great weather - with only a one or two pestilences (J**ps, Ni**ans, as I recall...)

We travelled up on Friday (Brian & I daytime via Dargatropolis, Waipoua, Waiotamarama Gorge Rd, Rawene Ferry) while Blair & Warren in Warren's Cisdo and Simon A did the SH1 route overland.

Base Camp was at Rangi Point - a special place, slap bang on the Hokianga Harbour's edge. Here's the Hall:

Our hosts for the trip, The Whangareans, commandeered the Hall while we retired to Land Rover Palace just across the lawn...

Just about dry inside but with excellent foam mattresses for our tired bodies. Of course much snoring and farting cleared away any creepy crawlies!

Saturday morning was spent on forest trails trying to reach the beach - with much to-ing and fro-ing and getting lost - our hosts had not been here for a while and logging changes the scenery so much. The forest trails were a cross between Woodhill and the Jonker's Swamp of Doom - the trees had not been thinned so tracks were very very narrow in places!

Eventually we reached the sunshine and the dunes:

A glorious sight and hundreds of acres of 'go anywhere' except "mind the sandstone cliffs.."

Within 20 seconds the sounds of V8s thrilled the air (and some wheezing of Terrano diesels).

I've mixed up the photos of the days  but suffice to say everyone had fun - even in the occasianal squalls (slashing rain with skin-slashing sand blasts).

Lunch to the North of Mitimiti - (The Place of The Squeaking Sand)

and some interesting treks back across grassy duney headlands

Then right down to the Hokianga entrance and the mega-dune of Te Pouahi:

There was much much roaring, stopping, sliding, turning, slaloming and cursing and we each battled soft sand to reach the top.

After some brash "I can go in a straight line to the top" bravado - we each discovered that zig-zagging with some macho navigation was the way to go!

The reward was magnificent..

Tardis & BH90 with the absolutely gob-smackingly fantastic viewpoint looking East up the Hokianga.

And some more gob-smacking historical beauties were found... (Simon A in his zoot suit complete with with rip-out 'rear toiletry' patch)

Then some sandstone cliff-edge stuff - not for the faint-hearted - the 'stone' was as about as stony as talcum powder mixed with EP90 oil...

Saturday afternoon's back-to-base task was to fix two flats on a WhangaRover:

Sunday morning was a lot like Saturday with more Duning and Foresting - until at 11am we LRs decided we should head back across the dunes, up the beach, back to camp, pack up and try to get to the Ferry for 12... In spite of some, no, much, Clarkson driving we managed to get in sight of the ferry (at 10 past 12) as it chugged across to Rawene. Darn it. But it did give us break at Jan's Cuban Coffee Cart where we regaled our stories of dodging puppies, piglets, horselets and cattle during the run...

And here's Simon meeting his perfect match on the Rawene Ferry on the way back!

After Rawene we beetled back down the coast road until Aranga where we dived off on to the beach (tide was perfectly out and staying that way) and zoomed southwards to Baylys Beach. A fine run to break up dull road driving!

Thanks to Blair for organising and of course to The Whangarei Club for hosting - they did a sterling job and were great fun to be with - even when filled up to gunnels with rum....

Neil