Ahipara to Russell

July 10, 2009

I woke up this morning with the realization that it hurt when my ankles touched each other. WTF?! I looked at my legs and realized that the bug bites that were on my legs from our stay in Opononi were now having a battle with my legs and I think the bugs were winning. Ouch, ouch, ouch. My ankles are swollen with bites. Grrr.

We got ready and headed out earlier than usual, leaving Ahipara by 8:30 am. We had planned to go to Mangonui for their fish and chips as they’re apparently the best around but we’d be passing through Mangonui around 10 so decided against it. We drove into Doubtless Bay, so named because James Cook sailed by it and wrote on his map, “that’s doublessly a bay”. We pulled off and walked along the beach because it was the most lovely golden color. We beach combed and took pictures. Since I have been collecting little samples of different sand as we’ve explored the different beaches I grabbed a big handful of the golden sand and walked it back to the car. I waited for Raven to fish out the ziplock bags from our green grocery bag, which she couldn’t find. Suddenly I had an image of the bag on a shelf back at the backpacker in Ahipara. Raven realized at the same moment that we’d left our food in the fridge too. No!!! So we jumped back into the car and drove the hour or so back to Ahipara to get our stuff. We then headed straight back and by this time it was 11 am so we definitely were passing through Mangonui during lunch time.

We pulled off into Mangonui and pulled up at a fish shop right on the water. There were a few people there, which is always a good sign. It was definitely worth the stop. Instead of always selling cod or halibut the way we do in the States, they cook up the fish of the day. Today it was hapuku, a white fish common in New Zealand. The fish is sliced into fillets but not battered. We’re talking FRESH! We each ordered a piece and I ordered ‘chips’ (Raven got something called a potato fritter and a squid ring). OMG, was that fish yummy! Definitely worth the trip to Mangonui and neither of us minded that we had had to turn around because lunch was that good.

We then headed back out and attempted to find our way to Matauri Bay, which hugs the northern coast of the North Island. The GPS didn’t recognize where we were trying to go and the guide books and maps were little help either. We actually had to navigate the old fashion way. After a couple of wrong turns we figured it out and drove out towards the bay. It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. The views are spectacular there and it’s just not very developed. After what felt like ages, we made it to Matauri Bay. Raven wanted to see the monument to the Rainbow Warrior Green Peace ship so we got out and asked. The guy said to go through the fence and up the hill. Um, the ‘hill’ looked more like a mountain and it was MUDDY! We changed our shoes and I realized again just what a mess those bugs had made of my ankles. It hurt soooo bad having my hiking boots on my feet. We headed towards the hill, Raven in the lead, which was good because I was muttering some choice words under my breath about climbing in the mud and about the pain my feet were in. We got up the first hill and came to a sign pointing at Paris in one direction and Hau Atoll in the other. Raven commented that she hoped this wasn’t it. Being muddy and grumpy, I secretly hoped that it was but noticed a hill going up further. Drat. Raven was very kind and offered to go up by herself to see if there was anything further. I let her and finally went up when she called out and said to follow her. As we were going up, a family was going back down. The little boy turned to me and said that it’s much easier going up (great). Then the father and his daughter walked by. As the little girl passed me she slipped in the mud. I grabbed her arm and caught her, thinking to myself that it was going to be really cute on the way back down. I got to the top and found the monument. I’m not entirely sure why the route had to be so slick, muddy and hilly but the view is spectacular and it looks out to where the wreckage sits underwater. We headed back down and I succeeded in staying dry and not falling in the mud, which I consider to be a huge success.

After Matauri Bay, we headed further east to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. We stopped first for some cream for my poor ankles. I hope it helps because my ankles HURT. We then went to the treaty grounds. This is a famous site for New Zealanders as it’s where the Maori signed a treaty with the English settlers. It continues to have significance today as the Maori are reclaiming facets of the treaty that were previously ignored. We started by walking out to the war canoe that was built to commemorate the centennial of the Waitangi Treaty. There were a bunch of kiwi kids wearing their rugby outfits running around. They looked like they were about the age of my students and I was cracking up watching them, especially this boy who was stretching out his arms around a tree trunk trying to figure out how big the trunk was. He’d stretched out his arms 8 times by the time he passed me. We walked further down the historic path to where Hobson walked up to sign the treaty and found the rugby boys at the top. They started the ‘haka’, the Maori war chant that NZ rugby players chant before matches. We then went to the meeting house and looked around. Maori art is, for a lack of a better word, phallic. Very phallic. We took some pictures of some totems, which I’ll have to post. Did I mention that they’re phallic? We then walked into the Busby House and took pictures before heading back to the visitor centre for a movie on NZ history.

After Waitangi, we headed to Paihia, which is essentially the same place. We had reservations for a hostel in Russell but we were tempted by Paihia because it had wireless internet access at the YHA. We decided to go to Russell anyway and took a car ferry across. Russell is in the midst of an exciting weekend as it is the Russell Birdman Festival this weekend (the reason we had reservations in the first place). We drove into Russell and Magda the Lying Bitch failed us again when trying to find the hostel. We went into town and got directions and found Pukeko Cottage. The owner, Barry, had left the door wide open with a note to us that we should make ourselves at home, which we did. Soon afterwards, he came home and told us about the happenings in town this evening. Apparently, the Birdman Festival included a bunch of drag queens bar hopping down at the pubs in town. Of course we had to be a part of this experience so we drove down to the main pub and took pictures with locals. We then headed out for dinner before heading back to our hostel. Tomorrow at 11 a bunch of men and women are going to dress up in flying contraptions and jump off a cliff into the water. That would include Barry the owner. We are so not going to miss this!