New Zealand 2022: Day 14 From Paparoa to Whangarei Heads

By the numbers

5.29 kms

7,132 steps

The weather looked alright even though there was cloud and we were trying to leave early enough. We were heading to Paparoa and the Kauri Museum, where we were going to pick up some photos that the museum was going to put together for me. We were heading south along the back roads and we did pop out near the cemetery that we wanted to, but there was a rest stop at a nearby park in Paparoa that was needed before anything else. The rest stop was called the Village Green and you could usually take a 15 min walk, but it was actually closed. Besides it was also wet and mushy so I didn’t really want to walk too far.

 

The first actual stop we made was at the Paparoa Anglican cemetery. The headstone I was after was one I had seen 10 years ago. Last time the grave of Granny’s brother who passed away when he was a child was falling apart. This time around we both couldn’t find any grave at all as it seemed to have vanished. It must have fully fallen apart and been cleared up, or we missed it. At the time we decided that a look through the Methodist cemetery might be interesting as well. Mum started walking around and her foot went into a hole. I decided that I wouldn’t attempt to do that as I would fall down the hill as it had been raining. The Methodist cemetery reminded me of a Wellington cemetery, but I would say this one was in a worse condition.

After getting back to the car, mum drove towards Matakohe where the Kauri Museum is located. The weather closed in and the rain started driving down along with the wind that really picked up. When we walked into the museum to ask about the photos I had ordered, they thought we would turn up on Saturday, but we could get them within the hour. We had lunch and then picked up the photos on a USB, but the blurb with the rest of the info about the pictures would be emailed, which is good. Next to be visited while it was fine was the Matakohe cemetery, where Joseph Gordon Coates ex New Zealand Prime Minister is buried. I was looking for him along the wall, but he was actually the next row along, which was behind me with his family. I could see the rain coming again, so we got into the car.

I had seen a sign that pointed to the Kauri Bushmen Memorial on Sterling Road on our way to the museum, so we called into it on our way back towards Paparoa. Turns out it was an unsealed road and we bottomed out twice when we returned up the road. It was muddy, but there was a monument to the Kauri Bushmen that was purchased by the Kauri Bushmans Association and other groups in 1954. Nearby was a walk, but I didn’t want to try it as it was wet and I didn’t want to sink in the mud. When we made it to Paparoa, we had a look around the medical centre as we suspected the cottage behind it was the old hospital from around the 1930s. We did have a look at the house my great grandparents lived in that was nearby, and I think when is now the Fonterra milk processor in Maungaturoto was where granny had once worked. It would have been under another name back then.

 

The next plan of attack was to head out to Marsden Point where one of the worlds biggest oil ships was docked at the refinery. We did drive through Waipu, but couldn’t stop as there were no carparks available, which was really weird for a week day. Once out at Marsden Point we found a beach, where I walked until I came to where the wharf went over the beach. The ship was there as I could see it from a distance, but it was huge when I came closer, and I walked as far as I could before turning back in case security became upset with me for hanging around. The next idea was to see it from the other side of the harbour from Whangarei Heads. Being the navigator I took mum for a drive through the new estates around One Tree Point. There were quite a few new buildings going up and very expensive boats too. It took a little while, but we ended up around Beach road, where we walked down a track with a good view. Turns out the ship had left port and was making her way out to sea, but I got to see the oil tanker leaving, which was pretty good to see regardless.

 

After the drive through the mud off road, we needed to clean the car and made sure we went to a carwash where we figured out how to use it. It was starting to get late as well and the rain kept on coming and going, which was pretty annoying. We were going to return the car on Saturday. It looked pretty much cleaner when we returned home with dinner. I did have a security guy giving me looks as I think it could have been due to my mask. We did fit in quite a bit on this last day of our trip, although we did have some days where the rain got the best of us.