Once Were Warriors


Our next overnight stop was the Pereti River – a very minimal site but in a beautiful location. We parked in the forest on the bank of a crystal clear river. After a walk up the valley we were sitting in the van enjoying a beer when a group of Maoris with hunting dogs rode past – a very impressive sight which gave an almost magical atmosphere to the woodland setting. A lot of the books we have been reading talk abut the impact of the loss of ‘mana’ on Maori communities. Respect or honour is a sort of translation of 'mana', difficult to maintain when your ancestors sold half the South Island for $300, but when you saw these guys riding through you got a real idea of what it used to mean. When I try and re-capture the image, the word ‘warrior’ always springs to mind. Would have made a great photo but somehow didn’t seem appropriate.


To Kai Iwi Lakes

The next morning, after a night full of forest sounds, Peter took his early morning dip in the river, a small deep pool flowing just fast enough so you could swim and stay in the same place. Strange not to be in salt water, you have to remember to keep paddling.

Hokianga Harbour is a huge estuary and you have to take a ferry across to get to Rewene, a lovely little town where we stopped to fill the water tanks, for a coffee overlooking the water, and to check our e-mails in the library/museum.

Further inland we stopped to walk through the Kauri forest to see the largest remaining Kauri tree in captivity. A really nicely laid out walk and a nice relief from the hot sun.

Finally, we arrived at the Kai Iwi lakes, three fresh water sandy lakes, the deepest in New Zealand. In contrast to the previous night the site was full of families with sound systems blaring and barbies sizzling. We lose track of time but of course this was Saturday night of the long Treaty of Kaitangi weekend. While some celebrate the Treaty, the majority just get away to the coast or lakes, and anything goes. We re-located to the other side of the lake where it was (a little) quieter and set up camp.



Kai Iwi Lakes

The following morning Peter went off for a run round the lake but only got so far so had a fresh water swim instead. Soon after lunch people started packing up and going home and the place quietened down and was very pleasant, the van parked in pine forest just a few yards from the water. Later Peter walked round the lake (the other way), hired a kayak and paddled back to the site. They let him keep it overnight so Vladen had a go fishing – no luck – and Peter went for a moonlight paddle later. In the morning Vladen paddled it back to the owners and we picked him up on the way out.

Back to Auckland

We were due to drop back in Sydney that day so we said godbye to Vladen at the Park and Ride to continue his trip to the South Island. We got back to Devonport about 5 just in time to get stuck in the evening rush hour - only to find that the only motorhome-sized jet wash was back across town. There was no way we could have handed it back in the state it was in, so back we went and finally arrived at Len and Cillas barely in time to go out for a last evening meal at a lovely Italian restaurant back down in Devonport. Our last night in the camper van in their carport, trying not to make the van messy again as Len was taking us at the crack of dawn to the downtown station to catch the 7.30 train to Wellington. A final act of kindness that capped off a fantastic week.