Road Trip North: Day 1

With encouragement from our home owner, Bob and I rented a car and headed out for our first perusal of New Zealand north of Auckland. There is too much to choose from, and we were a bit limited with my ankle (feeling much better but trying to be a good patient and wear the boot) but we still had a great time seeing what we could see in this country that has so much to offer in terms of natural beauty.

Our first stop was at Shakespear (no e) Regional Park on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. It is a lovely, massive park that juts out into the Hauraki Gulf. Bob and I continue to be amazed at the size of the parks here, how well they’re maintained, and that there is no cost to enter and enjoy.

Looking at the homes of people who get to see these views every day

Free to use, but there are rules. We didn’t cockle gather while there.

Look at the mowed lawns. They are all like this, and they aren’t in the heart of the city.

After driving out of the park and having a good photo op thwarted in Gulf Harbor (There is a Big Manly Beach there, but the road sign was partially covered and we couldn’t find a sign at the beach. Bob was “gutted” as they say here.), we drove up to the town of Orewa for a quick look-about and a picnic.

The Orewa beach directly across from the main road through town

Larger view of the beach at low tide from picnic area outside town center

In what would prove to be a very good (except for waistline) eating and drinking vacation, we stopped at the Puhoi Cheese factory and store. They do a free cheese tasting which allowed us to sample 6 of their cheeses — 2 soft creamy cheeses, 2 hard cheeses (Gouda and Cheddar) and 2 blue cheeses. They were all very good. We bought 2 small cuts to take with us. They also make and sell their own yogurts and ice cream.

Our final destination for the day was Matakana, a small town known for its good restaurants and wineries– an easy getaway for Aucklanders as it’s only an hour if you come the direct route. We stopped at the Brick Bay Winery on our way in as it is south of Matakana. We had a lovely wine tasting of three wines with a very nice local woman. In an amazing small world moment (1 of 2 we would have on our get away), we learned that her brother lives in Rockford, Illinois where my sister lives!

The restaurant at the vineyard where we had our tasting.

Brick Bay winery also has a sculpture trail. We arrived too late in the day to do that but decided we would return the next day to see the 65 pieces.

We stayed at the Matakana Motel which had a great sitting room with a kitchen (complete with dishes). It also had an easy cut-through to the main (only) retail dining area.