Day 63 - Big Tree, Bigger Tea

 After a very peaceful and murder-free night we got up nice and early to make our way north, trying to get as close to Cape Reigna as possible. This journey started well, with Corrie taking the wheel to give the Breezer a test drive. We made a stop at a supermarket on the way north to get some matches and other bits we’d missed from yesterday – Matches = cooker = pasta = happy Corrie! Then we continued north through continuous stunning scenery until we made a stop at the Kauri Museum where we spent a long while learning about the Kauri trees and their history etc. This was a good museum and, feeling refreshed, we made our way up to Waipoua Forest where there are hundreds of Kauri trees. We eventually found the one we were looking for, Tane Mahuta, which is the biggest Kauri tree in existence.

We headed out of the forest and further north with the intention of going the very long way around the river to let us keep going northwards. This was until we stopped at a scenic lookout and got chatting to a Kiwi who advised us that we could take a ferry across the river to save us driving all those extra miles. We took her advice, brimming with smugness at this time and fuel saving tip, and headed to the little village where the ferry should be… It was just leaving the port! The next one was in an hour, so we went back to going the long way round – we’d get to see more nice views anyway!

We finally pulled up at our planned destination, Ninety Mile Beech Holiday Park in Awanui - which was still open, and where we booked 2 nights on a site here and a day trip up to Cape Reigna tomorrow.

We got ourselves settled in before making tea – PASTA! This, you’ll all be glad to hear (Judy,) had lots of vegetables in: Carrots, onions, broccoli, peas and sweet corn. We both agreed it was delicious and Corrie is now designated chef for the trip! After tea we cleaned up, chilled out and enjoyed a couple of beers whilst the sun went down. Later we just showered and prepared for our trip, before going to bed in the van.