Day 27. Ruapekapeka Pa and trek through the district

Day 27. Ruapekapeka Pa and trek through the district

I had actually lost track of time the night before working on my blog and working on other stuff that I ended up going to bed at 1am. My computer is still on Australian time, so I am confused sometimes by the differences in the time zone. I did wake up tired, but was happy to be awake and ready for the next part of my adventure. Today, I was meeting up with my uncle Don who is now in a nursing home, but till able to get out and about. He was an ex dairy farmer and a barefoot water ski champ when he was younger. His family still own farms in the area and down on the south island too. We did go to the Kauri (Kaurihohore) cemetery where Aunty Nola was buried. Also included where the victims of a bus accident on a level crossing occurred in Hikurangi in the 1930s. Another grave was where Claude and Don’s parents were buried as well.

When we picked up Don the first place we headed towards was the historic location of Ruepekapeka Pa, which is not that far away and was the location of the last of the so called New Zealand Wars. Hone Heke was one of the people involved and the fortification was the strongest they have ever had. Some say that the pa was located in the middle of nowhere just to draw out the British troops. It has been said that no one won this battle even though the British did crow about it through dispatches. The feat of engineering was impressive that the pa was a model for British troops to practise in. I wandered around the area after we pulled into the carpark. The pa was actually sign posted and telling us that the location was sacred ground and not o eat food or drink. This was a place of significant importance both historically and archaeologically. Being located on the top of a hill helps too as you can see where the British troops were located. There was not too much in the way of signage around the area and nothing to say what you are standing on in one part is the forward British camp. On the way back I found another track to take, which was all bush. I had no idea where I would end up. Turned out this was another way of walking to the pa if you like the bush. Let’s say I was relieved not to turn around and walk back.

 We did go out past Monument road that actually has a WW1 monument down the end, which has some of Don and Claude’s family members the Delaneys. I think the war memorial was from the Tapuhi area. There were two of them located on the monument and it has cannon balls on the metal fence. Several were the real thing, but the rest were fake ones as they were stolen. You could tell which was which by tapping on them. Nearby was actually an old school building that has been used as a cow shed or for a farm and this was the old Tapuhi school building. You would never know what it was if you had driven past it. Not many people would drive past it as the area was isolated and well away from the main roads, very country. By following the road we ended up at the local pub, which was across from the Jack Morgan museum. For a Sunday it was very quiet and we were the only people to visit. The pub actually has some pieces from the past including a bottle from Hiroshima that had been bought back after the war.

 The Jack Morgan museum was interesting as it showed life throughout the area of the Hukerenui north of Whangarei. Not to be mistaken as Hikurangi, which is near the same town. Uncle Don had actually donated the milk separators to the museum and there was a large display of them. I did actually record a little of what he was saying about the milking implements. Unfortunately the video somehow ended up looking upside downish, although I was only really after the voice recording of it all. A little bit of family history stuff being done. I was also shown the Kauri gum that the diggers were after in the swamps. Some were made into interesting shapes including a bible and a wig. On out way home we did take a trip out to the farm out at Puhipuhi. We stopped at Don’s old place before we had to move on and drop him off at the place he is staying at. He did have some pictures of the district including of the Hikurangi saw mill that once operated with a train line that had wooden tracks. On the way home I did see a man with one arm and one leg get on a motorbike. He had two prosthetics, but I was surprised that he was allowed to ride what looked to be a dirt bike. He rode it really well too. Another great day was had and well worth seeing Uncle Don again.

Tip

Shirts that must be worn inside out all day should not be noticed until the end of the day

Day 26. A day in The Hokianga, Northland New Zealand

Whangarei to Oampere

Day 26. A day in The Hokianga

I actually woke up pretty refreshed and was happy that the sun was shining with a nice blue sky. It did feel chilly at first, but once we got into the car the weather had warmed up. Luckily I was wearing shirt and shorts. Claude was going to drive me out to Omapere, just past Opononi so we could visit the Hokianga historical society. This was where the other part of my family comes in. My natural grandfather on mum’s side of the family was a Gabolinscy, although I had only met him in person the once and I knew he had recently passed away. Several months ago I had emailed them asking what information they did happen to have and let them know several days ago that I was coming.

The drive was not too bad and we did get to stop at  town called Kawakawa as Claude wanted to show me the toilets the council had built. They were different especially when they are nearly all mosaics all the way through. They are different, but funny when some of the glass windows seem to be assorted bottles placed into the walls. Maybe it is another way to draw people into town though things that look completely insane and different. I might have to tick this place as part of my next trip as they have a museum, but of what? It looks like it might have something to do with coal, my museum book will tell me when I do look at it. On the drive I did see many old style wooden churches that were part of the landscape, one would be used as a land mark for later on in the day not far out of Opononi. If Opononi sounds familiar then it would if you had heard of Opo the dolphin, who is now buried in town with a grave and even a monument near the pub.

Once we found Omapare, the historical society was easy to find. I had a few years ago seen it at another location along the main road in town, when I was doing the Fullers Hokianga trip through Paihia. This time it had been moved to a side road and we would have passed it if the sign was not there. The museum and archive centre was not very big at all, but it did have plenty of information. I don’t think they had received my email from two days ago that I was coming to visit as I did get a blank look when I introduced myself. Unless the person I had emailed was not available at the time. They did have a huge archive box for me anyway full of information about not only the Gabolinscy / Hartley family from Kohukohu, but other families too. There was a little bit of extra information that had been researched like the company records for Hartley and Son launches. They owned several boats and a sheet did tell us about where they went. Seems like there had been some decent research done through Norris Gabolinscy who had written the Gabolinscy / Hartley book that I have a copy of. Luckily the group had that book and I was using it to see if any of the information I had was required. I still found extra regardless and they had photos.

Claude had come into the building with me when I went to troll through the information that had been provided. He did sit down and watch a movie reel about Opo the dolphin, although I did listen to the movie while it was playing. Afterwards he did come over and have a look at what I was doing. I don’t think he expected me to hand over a photo album with pictures I had seen through the Gabolinscy / Hartley book including some extras like my uncle getting christened or even one of him and my uncle at the Albany horse club. This was actually for a newspaper article that was present. I did ask if I was allowed to use my camera to copy the material. The answer was no as they required the stamp from the organisation. This did not bother me and I didn’t want to copy the photos as many I had either seen in the Gabolinscy / Hartley book or through Kohukohu by Eric Harrison. Some of the pictures were not there, but I did not want to unseal them from the paper in the albums. I started talking to one of the ladies, who was about to go home about the research that had been done. She said that Norris Gabolinscy and Ron Gabolinscy were both active members, who helped with the local research, which did explain some of the letters in the archive box. I spoke about the research and the dates not all bring correct as I had been going through and correcting through the BDM’s in NZ. I told them that I had gone to Germany looking for Albert and think I have found him getting wounded in the Franco Prussian war around 1871. I very much like to think they would love me to update the work of the past and I do feel like I should do this. I have written blogs online and published them in magazines about family members.  Something I think I surprised them about was the National archives now have a universal card and email the records you require making it easier. I did receive a business card to get in touch with them. During this time I bought two books about the Hokianga ne was written by Eric Harrison again. Hokianga, A Visitors’ guide and Hokianga Health; The first 100 years by Te Rautau Tuatahi. Another book I wanted to get they no longer have, which is Hokianga memories. This book I did see the day before at Rayburn house and hope it would still be there, for $45 I think it will be and I can check local museums too. Seems to be now out of print which was written by a family member of Eric Harrison’s unless it is his wife.

Before leaving the historical society, I did ask about where Ron lived and where he had been buried. I did get the answers and told where to go. Again I feel like a stalker turning up at someones place on strange roads. Last time was in Hikurangi when getting caught with Claude taking pictures of the house I used to live in before moving to Australia. The people were happy about that at that particular time especially when they were on their way to work. This time no one walked out to ask what we were doing. On the way back down the hill, we did stop at the lookout where the old signal flags used to be for the ships A guy was watching the carpark and there was a bucket with a suggested donation of $2 telling us that the money was for the local Lions club for community projects. I do not really buy into that, but we put money there. We were going o visit the cemetery outside of Opononi, but we had lunch first. It was interesting listening to some maori ladies talk about how younger people were not interested in learning about the spiritual side and their history, which includes the language. Sorry I was listening at the cafe next to the G.A.S. station, but I found it interesting. Hopefully once people get older they will realise what they are about to lose and do something.

Once we had lunch, we were off to the Pakanae cemetery that had a road leading to it. What I used as a landmark was the church and the Marae, which did help.  The road did quickly become unsealed and then we were there. The cemetery did have plenty of Maori graves too and writing I could not read. I had been given directions to Ron’s resting place and at the moment there is only a rock with his name on it. I don’t know if there will be a headstone or not. The ground would need to settle first. There were several unusual graves, one was of a lighthouse and the other a Maori grave actually had their family tree on the rear. Never seen this type before and it would help with research. It was starting to rain and as we were going to leave a bloke came up to us and asked what our business was at the cemetery. Once we explained, the bloke was happy and actually knew Ron who was buried there. We were off again as the rain drops closed in and the next stop turned out to be near Kaikohe at the Hone Heke memorial. I think it is to do with the Hone Heke the warrior and the politician, who are two people but I was confused. The second cemetery I visited on the way home was the Maura cemetery which is near the Jack Morgan museum. I hope I have the right cemetery though. This was where another of Claudes relatives was buried and there were a few people with the same family name up that way and it was a small rural cemetery too. By the time I was shown the cemetery and then we were on the way home where it was actually close to 6pm. I think it was a nice day out and worth the visit to the other side of the country. Last time we went to Kohukohu, where we visited the cemetery. I found out today they either ran out of money to clean it up or ran out of steam as it would be hard work, which is a shame. Not that it could be helped though.

Tip

When the electric razor seems to have given up the ghost, smack it on the concrete floor to get it working properly again. Works with lawn mowers with kicking them.

Day 25. From Paihia to Whangarei with entertainment

Day 25 Paihia, Bay of Islands to Whangarei

The day started off pretty well and it wasn’t actually raining before I was going to leave for my home town of Whangarei. I wandered off into town before I had to go anywhere like checkout of where I am staying at the YHA. The English couple got up before me and I was the second last person to leave in the morning. I went after coffee and a pie from the bakery. I lightly teased the bakery lady who was heself drinking a coffee and she said that she tried to limit herself to one coffee a day, but that wasnt working out very well. I had time and with the crumbs I fed the sparrows that were camping out at my feet waiting for food. I think they were happy and I did have 4 others arrive as well. A little squad of birds. I should explain a little about the bunk beds in the hostel I am staying at or was. I am on the bottom bunk and usually you would think there is enough room to sit down. These ones you would have to be really short and I can lie with my hands up bend at the elbows. I kept banging my head when trying to sit on the edge of the bed. I am good at trying to knock myself out.

By the time I checked out and wandered to the wharf, where the bus would stop. I was happy to read my book about the New Zealand Wars so I could learn more about the conflicts between the what man and the Maori. I might get the Musket wars, which is before this period when the maori found guns to be better used in war against each other. A man came out to tell us that the bus had broken down, so we will have a little bit of a wait for it to eventually come. I went inside and tried playing with what wifi centres I could use to see if they have passwords. They all seem to and the bus had broken down north of Kerikeri. I did get Granny and Claude know about the delay and Whangarei is only really an hour away by bus. The waiting begins and I am not in the slightest worried about the delay as I am happy to wait. The wait was not so bad at all as I was talking to several people from England who had been to Australia and found travel a bit expensive. I told them that is why I am in New Zealand as it was easier and cheaper. The companies seem to be more reliable too over here.

The bus did turn up around an hour later than it was scheduled and I think I was the only person in the bus getting off at Whangarei. The trip was pretty quick although I did get the evil eye from the maori chick in the seat in front of me trying to sleep. I think she seen my camera pointed at something and just wanted a look at what I was doing. I was not worried about being late today at all as being not far I would have enough time to chill with my grandparents who I will be with for the next couple of days. The weather was actually starting to clear up a touch and I don’t know if the next couple of days will be cold or not. I will soon find out about that. I did have Claude waiting for me and he did pick up my day pack, which he thought was heavy and I had my normal pack. I had actually swapped some things around before coming. I still have some things to post home, so I can add more before I fly home.

Once I was safely in the car, I thought we would end up going home. We didn’t though as we stopped at the location in Whangarei along the water called The Basin. We ate out lunch and then I was told that I could have a look around especially as I wanted to look at the Clock museum. The Claphams clock museum was owned as a private collection in the early 1960s. The man was eccentric and owned several hundred clocks that turned into a thousand or so. He was very well known in New Zealand and his humour and little jokes too. The location today was near Tikipunga as he had protected and owned the land of the falls known as Whangarei Waterfall from being used for commercial reasons. This is pretty cool as I am 15 mins walk from the falls. He sold the clocks to the council as he wanted them to be viewed by the public. There are many clocks, they are all ticking and striking the hour, but not all at once as it would be crazy. The lady gave me a discount for being a YHA member and a uni student too. Four clocks that were mentioned were the H1 – H4 that are kept at the Greenwich museum about longitude. These are known as the Harrison clocks. They go through the history of clocks from novelty, work clocks for punching on and off including nautical clocks. Time pieces are donated from families that have lived in the area for generations.

After wards I decided to wander towards Rayburn house, which is a historic house that houses art exhibitions as well. I think it could be the old customs house that had been moved around to its current location. A museum called History on Wheels did catch my attention although I didn’t stay long there. It was showing their collections from their main museum. I was able to look at the Packard cars from several generations and even a model T Ford. They had the flying flea too, which was a motorbike they parachuted out of planes. Another car was from the American prohibition that had crashed and was held by the police. Somehow it ended up over here on display. The main museum is located at Maungatapere. Bit of a mouthful too. After here, I went to the Reyburn house where I wandered around looking at some of the art work with Claude. I found several books I would like, but might find cheaper. One was history of Whangarei and the other Memories of the Hokianga. Local book here I come maybe.

Once I was able to bring my bags back, we were off around a half hour later to visit the Parua cemetery. Claude had family buried there, not direct relation to me, but still family in my eyes. He had actually gone up here in the past and repaired one of his grandparents grave that had been falling apart. It was well worth seeing someone that had actually done this. Several had been done in the area. There is a museum dedicated to the family members who came from Nova Scotia to New Zealand. We did see several other people including the first employer of Claude’s. There are several other people with similar names who are not related. We did take a drive past the Whangarei airport that usually flies to Auckland and packs only the light planes that has around 20 seats. We went down to the town basin where they have the history of Whangarei. There are several different spellings for the town that have appeared in the records. Coal was mined here and the town was once abandoned during 1845 for fear of attacks from the Bay of Islands. Then it was time to head back home. I did find a show that was interesting and seems they have made Footrot Flats into a theatre production. I was thinking about going, but I don’t want to rush anyone at all.

Tip

Seems there are people who love my tips and this is for you. Be good to your mother.... Kidding. To learn more about the area you are going to pick up brochures and look online about what is on. You may get a big surprise in finding something you never knew about before. If you like learning then History type tours. The locals may have some ideas. 

Day 24. New Zealand adventures in Russell on a rainy day

Day 24. A wet day in Russell with a broken umbrella, New Zealand.

Today was still wet when I woke up this morning and I actually had a decent nights sleep although i did watch a movie with some guys who seem to be LOTR fans. Yes I got involved with the parts of the movie and no, the movie wasn’t anything to do with Lord of the rings. We actually watched for the first time on VHS (gasp) Lock, stock and two smoking barrels. Not a bad British movie and different. I was booked for the Russell tour and I had done this before, so luckily it was a wet day and I could do that. I checked with the Kerikeri tour and they were not sure at that time of morning what was going to happen. I told them I will get back to them later especially since they have a office on the island.

I had bought both my brolly and a raincoat with me as I would rather have that little bit of dryness with the wet weather hanging around. It was funny as the weather was exactly the same as it was last time I visited Russell and the tour guide was the exact same bloke I had last time too. He didn’t remember me, but i did. Still It was pretty cool and I had to check that I was ready to go as I had left the travel sheet at home with the details. Before embarking on the hour tour of Russell, I headed to the First church in the town. This church was the first one built in New Zealand and has musket holes that I observed from the wars of the past with the Maori. I thought he church was a lovely little building especially the seats of the pews as they were all tapestries. Several I recognised including the Beagle, which was Charles Darwin’s boat. I did wander the cemetery as well of course and there were some interesting people buried there like the first white person born in NZ or bay of Islands and a Maori Chief too I think it is.

The tour takes you all over the island and some of the houses are really worth a lot of money several have been sold for over $1 million upwards to $9 Million too. The flag staff on flag staff hill was chopped down at least 4 times during conflicts with the Maori who attacked the town on several occasions including being nearly burnt to the ground except for the church and Pompallier Mission, which was a church and a printing press for bibles in the Maori language. This was actually a French run mission and the English were not too happy about it either. The whole area is historic especially when one family has run a supermarket for around 8 or 9 generations on the same spot in town. One of the hotels now a restaurant was actually a grog shop / brothel at one stage and another hotel is actually the first liquor license in New Zealand. The whole town in interesting especially when you learn more by visiting the museum. Another place you can stay at costs $25,000 a night minimum of 4 nights. Some Russians are staying there at the moment, which is cool. The other name for the town of Russell is Kororāreka meaning sweet penguin / sweet penguin meat or something like it in Maori..

Once we got back to the info centre in Russell I trotted inside and asked about the trip to Kerikeri. It had been cancelled and I got my refund. I had to figure out which card I actually used and then I was on my way for a wander around the soggy town on a wet day. After finding temporary relief from a bladder, my brolly broke. I had pulled the handle out and this was before I had seen about my cancelled tour. They advised that I try the chemist for a new one. I found one, but have to learn to stop playing with the button as it either collapses the brolly or shoots it up. Not fun if it is raining and it goes down. I cant help but hit the big button that is cool. I was worried I was going to lose it when I went to Russell museum. When I walked up the steps a lady was complaining to her hubby that you have to pay to go inside. They were complaining about the $7 entry. I nearly snapped back at them that they are ungrateful people as those inside are volunteers and need money to buy stuff and update the displays etc. I kept my mouth shut, but hovered around the entry to see if they would say something. They never did and I got to see the museum in Russell that had not really changed from my last visit. I don’t know if the ship Endeavour was called the Bark Endeavour or both as I have read both in books. There was a temporary display with items from the longest living founding families still in town. Zane Grey gets a mention about his fishing and the records he has made and there is also a video about the town too. The museum shop has many books about the history of the area and I was thinking that my family members could have visited the area too from The Hokianga.

After the museum I had a fish and chip lunch as you do in a sea side town. I had three little sparrows watching me eat and I did not feed them, but they were hanging with me like my own little crew that wanted something to do. Next I visited Pompallier Mission, which I had before on my last trip. I am checking to see if there have been any changes to the place. It started off as a French mission and over time people actually lived in the house and demolished the little church. The families that lived there did make changes and it was no longer a printing house for the maori bibles. They did everything there and it was bought in the late 90’s and fixed up by the conservation society and it is as it is today with gardens from the families who lived there in the past. They do show the differences through time strangely by using the dead rats. The house had thick mud brick type walls, which was how it survives as the wood at the time was very expensive. It was still raining by the time I wandered out.

By this time I thought I better leave for the mainland as it was late afternoon and I wanted to get some washing done. I caught the ferry with a happy do who wandered about the ferry as its owner was the skipper. Seems you can return on any ferry you want even though they are owned by different companies. Seem they reached this agreement around a year ago and they sort everything out at the end of the day. Return it is $12, which is reasonable and not that bad at all. On a nice day the Bay would look awesome. There was a farmers market on the village green as it was owned by the Williams family, who used to live in the house that is now the local library.  How do I know this? There is information plaques scattered around the area explaining what some of the buildings are and even the gates, which are called kissing gates. Seems Wifi is also available and people were using their computers in the rain, kid of worrying though and what happens when the trees start dripping? I did eventually wander back to the hostel and get my washing done while the new guy in my room was actually taking the weekend off from his job at the YHA in Auckland and he remembered me from the first time I arrived several weeks ago. He is pretty cool though and I was charging my stuff before the morning that I leave and head into my birthplace of Whangarei, spending time with grandparents and visiting some new places that I have not been to before.

Tip.

Make sure you have another plan in case the ones you have fall apart. The Kerikeri one got kaboshed twice and twice I had another plan, like Waitangi treaty grounds and staying at Russell for longer