Spirit of the Antipodes Day 21

 Until recently, there were only two parkrun events in the whole Northland region of New Zealand. Fortunately, someone decided to start one at Waitangi, only 4 weeks ago, just in time for our visit. Less than a ten minute drive away from our motel, the Waitangi Forest parkrun offered the most picturesque drive to a parkrun event, we have ever enjoyed. The run itself was on a trail through the forest with some undulations, but nothing too steep, and it was a perfect morning weather-wise. I even came first in my age category! 





Back at the accommodation in plenty of time, as there was no coffee on offer after parkrun, we showered and loaded our luggage in the car before heading down town in search of breakfast and coffee. 

The first cafe we called into, a lovely one on the water, was having staffing issues and they had just decided they weren’t taking any more food orders for the morning, so we went for a walk and found another, where we enjoyed breakfast muffins and great coffee before bidding beautiful Paihia goodbye. 

We drove down to the neighbouring Bay of Islands town of Opua just for a look on the way past; a very marina-centred town. 


We then set off in earnest, joining State Highway 1 at Kawakawa, again enjoying the scenic views that had wowed us on the way up. We made a brief stop at Wellsford for some refreshments before journeying on, but after becoming accustomed to slow rail travel over the past weeks, the looming motorway, just after Wellsford, didn’t appeal. We opted instead, to turn off onto the slower-paced old highway which took us through Warkworth and back to the coast at Waiwera, stopping at various points to enjoy the views. 




We rejoined the motorway after Orewa, our only option as we were travelling beyond Auckland for a night at Karaka.

 



Back in Wallsy’s old stomping ground from his 1978 Rotary exchange experience, we did a tour of ‘sacred sites,’ revisiting the areas of Papakura where he had lived and attended school. We finished off with an icecream and a walk through Kirk’s Bush, a 13 acre area of dense native forest, which forms a real oasis in the midst of a built up area. 


We checked into the Doubletree Hotel at Karaka and enjoyed a delicious final-night dinner, entertained by the spectacle of bride, groom and guests attending a traditional Indian wedding in the reception room next door. 

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