Magical Mangawhai (RV Day 2)

April 15

We had a great first night sleep in our motorhome. It was comfortable and super quiet at the campsite. We awoke to lots of birds, some new ones again for us that we haven’t yet seen.

We got a late check out from the park and had a slow start to the day. We ate a leisurely breakfast and called family back home to catch up.

Our outing of the day was to Mangawhai Heads Reserve, a popular surfers beach. We parked our RV at the RV park and took a nice 20-minute walk to the beach / trail head.

It was busy when we arrived for our hike, mostly because the NZ school kids are on a two week break and there were loads of surfers.

The sky looked ominous, but it wasn’t raining.

The Mangawhai Cliffs Walkway was our goal, a 5.5 mile out and back hike partly on the beach and then up a trail for the clifftop views.

Except we couldn’t find the trailhead. I knew high tide was at 12:30 p.m. and that’s about the time we arrived. Mitch tried crossing the rocks on the beach, but the water was too high. Frustrated, we turned around and did a shorter hike, Goldschmidt Track, which was a narrow path through the bush to a stunning overlook of Mangawhai Heads.

Wanting more of a hike and intent on finding the hike we came to do, we asked a mom and her daughter if they knew how to access the trail. Not knowing much more than we did, we banded together and forged ahead to the beach and crossed over the rocks. The tide was starting to go out so we were able to cross by jumping from one rock to another without getting too wet. Success!

We walked on the beach for half a mile or so, stopping often to admire the waves and the panoramic views.

We were back on the East Coast, so the South Pacific Ocean was our view. We saw islands off shore in the distance and wondered what they were (Great Barrier Island? Little Barrier Island?).

We finally found the trailhead. Steep step after steep step, our heart rate increased as we climbed and climbed.

We came to an overlook and decided not to go further so we hiked back down. We clocked in about five miles so not too bad.

The tide had gone out so it was much easier to navigate the sandy walk back.

We took some fun shots on the beach and passed some really nice flowers.

Our next stop was Whangarei (“wh” is pronounced like “f”), a town about an hour north. We booked another Top 10 Holiday Park for the next two nights there. It was at the base of a forest.

We arrived to a much smaller and less scenic park than last night.

There were also 30 or so 15 year old rugby players staying there for a tournament. Their cabins were right next to us and their rugby pitch was our site (sorry guys!). We worried that they would be loud. The coaches assured us they wouldn’t.

The accommodations here are spotless, as was the case at the last holiday park. The Top 10 Holiday Parks are the highest level and also the most expensive.

We lit up the stovetop and cooked another meal in the RV and enjoyed a glass of wine.