Heading North

If you've never been to the Far North of New Zealand, it's well past time you did. A group of us were up there as recently as Easter, and it was that trip that got me thinking over the last few weeks about getting the club there.

Last trip (as with most of the visits to the north) was based out of the Top Ten Camp ground near the southern end of 90 Mile Beach. Hot showers, powered sites, flushing loos are all well and good, but is it camping? What I wanted to try was to get the camping trailer to the bottom of the sand dunes and find a sheltered spot to make camp. This would allow a much longer time to play in the dunes and the tides wouldn't have so much of an impact on what time of the day I could get back to Ahipara round the point via Shipwreck Bay.

Of course Murphy visited and made a damn nuisance of himself before we had got even close to leaving. The zip on the tent cover split and with three weeks to go I dropped it off at Deans canvas. Despite a promise that it would be done, after two and a half weeks nothing had been started and so amid more and more excuses I grabbed my cover and walked out in disgust. Thanks to the guys at Design Upholstery in White St, Rotorua who managed to get the zip replaced in time to leave when we had planned.

During all this I managed to pick up a set of BFG all terrains. Ripper! Perfect chance to save some wear on the muds and fit them in time for the trip north. First fit and balance saw the rims and tyres on the truck balancer at Beaurepairs. This has worked lovely in the past and saw 35" mud terrains run nicley on the road with very little feedback through the steering wheel. Hmm, not this time it would seem. Back down a week later and onto the car wheel balancer. Better, but still yukky. Visit Mamaku and after a chat with Marcel I headed back to Beaurepairs with a Range Rover hub. The hub fitted to the balancer perfectly! Fit rim and tyre to the hub, fit hub to the balancer and there you go, an almost perfect balance. Gotta give Gary at Beaurepairs kudos for humouring me and trying it. Now all I've got to do is keep the weights on the rim. . .

So, friday morning saw us screaming north aiming for our first night stop of Opononi by late afternoon. Let's ignore the bit about stopping in Auckland for fuel and last items of food and getting well and truly snarled up in the traffic shall we, and concentrate on turning off SH1 and onto SH12. The west coast of this country is spectacular and the trip through Dargaville to Opononi is no exception. There are almost too many places to turn off and explore and just about every corner heard another exclamation of something to look at. Some of the towns and areas you drive through could almost be turn of the century (and not the last turn either), locals on horses, sports games, almost colonial looking scenes and more. If you're brave enough to leave your gear unattended, the forest giant Tane Mahuta is on this road. Eventually though it was a very tired pair that pulled into Opononi. Opo the dolphin is long dead of course but the area's spectacular beauty is more than a draw card.

Next day was glorious and the crossing from Rawene on the ferry was really the start of our far north adventure. Into Ahipara and up onto the Gumfields road, stop at the gate, koha paid and onto the track to the beach. This is just one of the old kauri gum digger tracks that criss-cross the area through the low scrub that looks like it should be on the central plateau instead of this close to the beach. Over the years there has been a huge amount of erosion and much of this track has been scoured out by both nature and man and present a few challenges on the way. Slow and steady with a few pounds out of the tyres is the way. There's not a lot of mud to be had but with exposed rocks and shelves to negotiate there is still more than enough to keep one happy.

Eventually we head up through some pines and after a steep sandy climb suddenly emerge at the top of an enormous dune network. This is where the fun is to be had! On past trips quads, motorbikes and various breeds of dune buggies and four wheel drives had been roaring up and down these steep grades. And I joined them. This time however we spent a bit of time cruising the beach looking for good campsites and just relaxing. There were plenty of sites to be found too; on the beach itself, tucked away in small bays and nestled in the secluded grassy areas behind the beach. You'd get a couple of trucks in there. Perfect for a club trip I reckon.

Sunday turned a bit sour with early morning drizzle and so once the tides were right we scuttled off round the point towards the Top 10 Camp and a trip to Te Paki. I guess if there's one thing you can be sure of in spring it's that the weather will do whatever the hell it likes. And that's exactly what it did because it fined up enough for the return trip to camp to have the roof down and fish and chips on the beach. Gotta love spring I guess.

So there you go. Whaddaya reckon? In for a trip to the Far North, a play in the sand dunes, a bit of history and a spot of camping?

Let me know at the next meeting.

WooHoo!