Journey to Northland : Paihia Part 2

Being Idle ( 28 -29 November 2012)

It was continuously raining for these two days so I didn't go out much, except to buy groceries and food to cook later on. So I spent most of my time doing photo editing and also getting online. Wifi is good here, but to use it you have to pay. Just simply login online and give your credit card / debit card details and off you go. But if you're registered YHA membership, you'll have wifi connection for free.

It was during this period that I made the last minute decision, to go for another trip within two weeks time which was to go down to South Island. So what I did that time was to book flight and coach tickets, accommodation and other stuffs that matters. Pretty much a hectic situation for me, but it was really worth it. So expect another series of travelogue from me in the next entries.

Ipipiri Overnight Cruise by Fuller's Great Sights (30 November 2012)

Today was the second last day to my journey up here in Northland, after traveled to Whangarei and Kerikeri before going back home in Palmerston North. So for today, I went on board the luxury overnight cruise called Ipipiri. This trip was actually out of initial plan for this journey, but I was happened to be lucky to get cheap ticket from Trademe where a guy was selling his ticket last minute for a really reasonable price. Usually the ticket costs around $400 but I got it for $170 only.

Launched in 2009 by Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands, for the past five years Ipipiri has cruised the sheltered waters of the Bay of Islands providing unique tours of the region to international and domestic visitors, wedding parties and local groups. In 2014 Ipipiri was relocated to Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour and now, under the name of Hauraki Blue Cruises, she offers an overnight cruise experience and half-day harbour lunch cruises around the sparkling waters of the Waitemata Harbour and Hauraki Gulf, as well as a premium Auckland wedding venue, and conferences, meetings and incentives venue.

Ipipiri is the flagship vessel of Hauraki Blue Cruises. At 146 feet (44.5 metres), she is the largest cruising ship permanently based in New Zealand, providing a truly impressive cruise experience. Spread over four levels, this catamaran includes 30 ocean view cabins, a spacious sundeck with 360 degree views and a 70-seat restaurant and bar. Cruising at 12 knots, the vessel has been designed to provide maximum stability and minimum wake.

Photo of the cruise.

I checked out that morning from YHA Backpackers with all my belonging and went to the I-Site at town. Reason why I went early is that the baggage storage at I-Site is limited and I don't want to bring all of my stuff on the cruise. Luckily I managed to get a locker for my stuff and later on registered at the counter. It was 9 am that morning and the receptionist there said that they will gather all the participants at 12.30 pm, so I still have plenty of time. So, I went to the nearby stall and have my breakfast.

Finally, the time has come and all of the passengers were gathered at the main lobby of I-Site. I estimated that there were around 30 guests that going on the cruise that day including me. We were accompanied by Fuller's Great Sights company on-duty staffs to the bus that brought us the jetty where the cruise sails, which was at Opua, which is about 10 km southwards from Paihia. On bus while on the journey to Opua, we were given short briefing on the cruise activities and also about offered us on the photos collection of the whole activities captured by their respective photographers which is collectible upon the end of the cruise.

Short briefing by Fuller's Tourist Guide on the bus.

Finally, we reached Opua. After finished taking our belongings, we were lining up to board the ship. During this time, there was a photographer who took our photos with the background the cruise one by one (or by partner of family) before going on board. 

Lining up to go on the cruise.

First and foremost, we were asked to go to the main dining deck first as there was a briefing to be conducted by the captain of the ship. We were also introduced with the staffs on board like the cabin crews and chefs. The briefing was mainly about the facilities on board, activities and tentative of that afternoon until the end of the cruise, do's and dont's on the ship and other stuffs that matters. Finally, we were given our room key and accompanied to respective rooms.

Captain of the ship during the main briefing.

View from my room :)

My room. Taken with my ultra wide angle lens.

Quite nice aye? :)

We were told that the cruise is now heading towards the islands away from the land and our first stop was one of the islands for few activities such as swimming, kayaking and island trekking. So until that time, we were free to stay at rooms or going on the dining deck to have refreshments or to view the surroundings on the top observation deck. I decided to have lunch before going up to the observation deck.

Muffin and hot chocs for lunch.

View from the lower observation deck.

A windsurfer surfing from one island to another.

There was a huge cruise that sails in Bay of Islands that day. I was also noticed that its passengers also waited at I-Site Paihia and being brought to the jetty near Waitangi Ground with vans and later on to this cruise with few boats.

Sailing Ship that passed our cruise.

One of the beautiful islands that we passed along our journey.

Finally, the cruise arrived at one of the islands which I don't know its name. Announcement was made by the crew that who are interested to go to the shore are asked to gather at the bottom deck, where a boat will bring us to the beach at that island. Those who wanted to stay on the cruise are allowed to do so. So I went to the bottom deck and waited for boat to pick me and others to the shore

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On the boat from the cruise to the shore of the island.

View of Ipipiri from the boat. Isn't she a beaut?

Finally reached the shore. Luckily I didn't soak my shoes.

On this island, we were given two choices of activities which are the island walking and water kayaking. Since I didn't want to get myself soaked and I didn't bring with me spare clothes, so I decided to do walking around the island. We were given two hours at most to explore the island before going back to Ipipiri. The walking track was not difficult and the only tiring walk was only that the track is going uphill. But the view up there is great where we can see our cruise and other yachts that moored there at the beach. I took few pictures there.

View from the top of the island. Ipipiri can be seen at the top right corner of the picture.

View on the rear side of the island.

On the way back, I met with the elderly Asian couple where they asked me to take their picture. We walked together back to the beach and I learned that they're Malaysian but now residing in Melbourne, doing business of supplying medical equipment to the hospitals. The uncle was from Sungai Petani but spent his primary and secondary education years in St George Taiping (he mentioned that when I told him I come from Taiping). And his wife was from Kuala Terengganu. We talked a lot,( in fact that the uncle was so talkative) about Malaysia and what's currently happening that time.

Some of us went kayaking around the island.

 Ipipiri as seen from the beach.

 Boat that brought us from and back to the ship.

Finally, we were going back to the cruise the same way as we came. Participants were brought back group by group. After everybody were getting on the ship, we are free to do anything until late evening where dinner is served. So I took the liberty of getting around the cruise to take pictures. Meanwhile, the cruise is moving again and the captain told us that the cruise will stop and stay at one of the secluded cove around the islands that night. 

 Again, the picture of my room. 

 Lobby outside of my room. 

 The Malaysia born uncle and auntie (I forgot to ask their name) having conversation with another couple who also came from Australia

Light refreshments were served that afternoon while waiting for dinner.

View in the dining deck.

Me enjoying the view from the rear of the cruise.

 The top observation deck. It is where you can see the 360 degree view from the top of the ship.

 The others were enjoying the journey outside the dining room.

Suddenly, the announcement was made by the cabin crew saying that there is a group of dolphins swimming around the cruise. So I grabbed my camera, changing lens and try for couple of shots. Luckily I got few nice shots of the dolphins. The other passengers and crews were eager to see my pictures when I told them I got the nice shots of these dolphins.

Pair of dolphins that swimming around the cruise.

Finally, the cruise stopped here and the anchor set down. I took this picture few minutes before the sun goes down.

As the dinner was ready to be served, we were asked to gather at the dining deck. It was three course meal that being served which are the starter, main course and finally dessert. The starter was served ala carte and the main course and dessert were served as buffet. I sit with the the Malaysian uncle and aunty and also the Australian couple and a mainland Chinese student during that time.

Ze starter.

Grilled lamb and rice for the dinner.

 Shared the table with them; the Malaysian uncle and aunty and the Australian couple (his wife was not in the picture).

What I have for dessert.

 Having conversation after finished with dinner. 

View in the dining deck after dinner was over.

So, practically, the night was over and everyone were going back to their room for rest. Me did the same too, having bath and lying on my bed, but when I see through the window, I saw the full moon rising. Big one. So I bring my camera and went to the top observation deck and took few pictures. Only then, I went to my bed and sleep.

On my bed.

 Moon and moonlit on the top of the cruise.

1st December ; The Final Day in Paihia and Northland Trip.

I woke up at 5 am that morning, having my Fajr prayer. Since it was in the mid Summer, the sun rise up early. I decided not to sleep back after prayer and brought my camera up to the observation deck to see and capture the sunrise. Joining me on the deck was a guy from Auckland who worked as an engineer at Tegel Chicken Poultry. He was on fishing trip yesterday and joined us on board last night.

View from my room early that morning.

 View from the top observation deck that morning, few minutes before sun rising up. 

Sunrise over a secluded settlement at one of the islands near to the cruise.

 Made this panorama shooting from in front of the cruise.

Announcement was made at 7.15 am to wake up everyone who still sleeping and to prepare themselves for breakfast which will be served at 8.00 am. 

After done with the breakfast, the cruise set up and sailed back to Opua. But along the journey back we were brought around the islands. The captain while driving the cruise, he gave out commentary on the specific islands that we went passing by and the stories and histories that lie behind it. Sometimes we went across few groups of dolphins that swimming. I got few pictures of the dolphins, but not as good as the day before to my liking.

Video that I recorded while on the way back to Opua.

Islands, boats and no dolphins.

 One of the dolphins went up.

Finally, the cruise was on its way back to Opua. We were told to pack up stuff and belongings together and later on gather all the stuff outside of the dining room. Most of us were going up to the observation deck, taking pictures while waiting to arrive at Opua.

 Ferry that brought dolphins observers around the island.

Some of the yachts that moored around the bay. It seemed like Bay of Islands is the summer or holidays escapade for Kiwi riches who probably want to escape from their jobs at the cities.

Finally, we reached Opua. On the way off the boat, the captain and cabin crews were lining up to meet the participants, thanking each others and wishes a safe journey. We were escorted back to the bus that already awaited at the jetty and then going back to I-Site, Paihia. 

I wished farewell to the nice auntie and uncle that I spent most of the time with them as they're leaving for Russell and then to Auckland, catching flight to go south to Christchurch. It was 12pm in noon and my coach to Auckland will departs at 2pm so I waited there at the I-Site lobby, online while waiting for the coach to come.

Finally the bus came and I left Paihia for Auckland at 2 pm. I reached Auckland around 5 pm and from there I catch the next connecting bus back to Palmerston North at 8 pm. I have my late lunch, Zohor and Asar prayer at Auckland before leaving for Palmerston North. 

All praises be to God, I reached Palmy at 4.50 am in the morning of 2nd December. It was a fun journey really, especially when I was travelling alone. I learnt many things during this journey and of course, I did enjoy the scenic views of the Northland. 

Thanks guys for reading this series. But it is not ended yet. I was at Palmy only for a week before I set out again travelling, this time I was going south. So, stay tune to my next entries - Journey to South.

Cheers.

Journey to Northland, New Zealand - Whangarei

Assalamualaikum and hi everyone,

Not like the previous years where I headed home to Malaysia during summer holidays, this time I spent roughly a month travelling around New Zealand. I was in the Northland region from 15 November to 2nd December and then another trip to central South Island from 9th to 22nd December. In this entry, I would like to share with you my travelogue that I have written before hand during the journey to Northland. I will, in the future writing up on my journey to South Island.

Whangarei (16th - 21st November)

I left Palmerston North on 15th night, taking the overnight Intercity bus to Auckland. It was a pretty long journey with couple of stops along the way to Auckland, be it for toilet / refreshments or drop and pick up passengers. After 10 hours of the journey, finally I reached Auckland safely at morning of 16th.

Intercity Overnight Service from Wellington to Auckland.

From Auckland terminus, I took another bus to Whangarei. It took about two and half hours to reach Whangarei from Auckland. As I was pretty tired, I slept during most of the journey, but sometimes I did wake up and look around. The bus route did pass through some beautiful places such as Wellsford, Waiwera, Shakespeare and many more. Northland region is diverse in terms of the vegetation (thick rainforest), beaches, rivers and waterfalls, and I just seen less than quarter of these during this journey.

Finally, I reached Whangarei safely. I was initially requesting pickup from the accommodation staff but somehow they did not respond so I have decided to take city bus from town to the hotel. In Whangarei, I was staying at the Whangarei Falls Holiday Park which is located at suburb of Tikipunga which is about 5 km from town. It costs me $3 for bus fare to go there.

Waiting for bus at Rose St Bus Terminal Whangarei.

While waiting for bus, I was approached by this Maori guy. Friendly fella, I supposed. We chat while waiting for the bus since he is going the same way I am going. I told him I'm from Malaysia and he seemed surprised because he was also been to Malaysia for mission work. Bus arrived and I went aboard. Finally after a while I reached hotel safely. 

At the hotel, I was greeted by the owner, Mrs Alison. She was nice and friendly. She explained to me on the stay and showed me around the place. It was a nice place though, although pretty far from town. The closest supermarket was Countdown Tikipunga which is about 2km walk. 

Panoramic picture of my room. Got the whole cabin for myself.

View from outside of my room. There is a swimming pool and behind were shower block and kitchen.

I stayed here for six days and the main intention was to shoot the picture of nationwide famous Whangarei Falls. The reason why I spend a long time there was to accommodate for the right weather and lighting in order to get great images. I was right. It was raining heavily for three out of six days and I spent those days in my cabin, sleeping hehe  :D

Just a side note here. To save up costs, I did cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner at the kitchen provided there. I brought with me my own pan and rice pot due to the hygiene reason (Halal matter) and I bought most of the cooking stuff from Countdown. 

Since it is summer currently and the daytime is much longer than night, I went out to the falls once I finished settle up stuff in my cabin. I was lucky because I was able to shoot few nice images that evening from the falls. 

Whangarei Falls.

View from closer angle.

On the second day, I was initially planning to shoot sunrise from Town Basin. So I did get up early at 3 am and walk from my cabin to town for 5km. Instead of sunrise, it was cloudy that morning so I decided to do long exposure instead.

Town Basin Marina, Whangarei.

It was raining heavily that afternoon so I did not go anywhere to shoot pictures. 

Weather became much better on the third day. Since my initial plan to shoot the Whangarei Falls was successful, I spent the rest of the time around the nearest forest reserve. So that day, I went walking for total of seven kilometer through A H Reed Memorial Forest Park and also Mair Park. 

A H Reed Memorial Park and Mair Park are parts of the Hatea Walkway which stretch from Whangarei Falls to the Town Basin Marina. There is also side track which go to the Parihaka Hill Scenic Lookout which I didn't have chance to go with. So I started walking around 8 am from my cabin to Whangarei Falls, where this walking track begin. 

Somewhere near to the falls.

View of the river from bridge. Can be seen on the right side is the track.

It is 35 minutes walking from the falls to the Memorial Park. 

Whangarei Falls, seen from the beginning of the walking track.

The track continues to go alongside with the river. There are two pools that I reckon being generally used as a swimming spot. Then the track go across the river via a swing bridge. I seldom go across a swing bridge so I feel a little bit creepy though, especially when the bridge swing to the left and right.

Swing bridge.

The track passes over this meadow where I came back later on the day to shoot sunset.

Finally, I reached A H Reed Memorial Park after half an hour walking. There are two attractions here; first is the Kauri Canopy Walk and secondly the Paranui Falls. The canopy walk is a loop track that surrounding a group of big Kauri trees. Logs from Kauri are being used to make big ships, war canoes and houses by the Maori people.

Walking track just before I reached the beginning of Kauri Canopy Walk.

I think it is about 5 to 8 meter elevated from the ground.

Info board about Kauri trees.

Then, I went to the Paranui Falls. This waterfalls is not so famous compared to Whangarei Falls and I know why. There are no proper walking track to the base of waterfalls and just being indicated by arrows only. The other reason was that it is too slippery to walk to the base as there are heaps of moss on the rocks and stone near to the stream. Alhamdulillah I made it safely to go and back. 

 Track to the waterfalls.

Stream that coming from the waterfalls.

Base of the Paranui Falls.

View of the top.

Finally I have done the A H Reed walk. From the exit gate of the park, there was 700 meter walking by the side of the road which was indicated by arrow which is going to the Parihaka Scenic Reserve (which including Mair Park). Since it was Sunday, there are many people there doing walking and also having picnic alongside the track and by the river.

Mair Park Walkway.

View from the Mair Bridge.

Finally I came to the end of the walk which converged with the main road to city. I walked back using that road back to Tikipunga and then back to cabin. Got few hours of rest, also to cook for dinner before (as I mentioned earlier) I went back to the meadow area to shoot the sunset.

Heaps of clouds that time.

Fourth day which was on Monday. I woke up early that morning to shoot pictures. This time I have no need to go further as I went to the top of the Whangarei Falls which is just about 2 minutes walk from cabin. The weather turned out great and I found good spot and angle to shoot. Not only good, but safe as well as I did not want fall down 8 meter below. 

That was the last time of the day that weather turned out good before it started to become gloomy that evening. So I called it a day off. 

The fifth and last day. I planned to do coastal shooting at Onerahi, the suburb area 12km from Whangarei City. Prior to the trip, I made research on the location and there is beach area there with a pier. But as soon as I get there, I found that it was not so suitable for shooting from my judgement of composition etc, plus weather that day was gloomy. So without taking any pictures, I went back home. It was just at the lookout near to the airport that I took couple of shots of the Whangarei Heads.

Can be seen at the background ; the mighty Mt Manaia on the left.

On the morning of 21st November, I left Whangarei for the next destination; Kerikeri with coach. 

It was a nice visit to Whangarei. There are many other interesting places here to go but due to the limit of mobility (I cannot drive) and weather conditions so I could not make it. Next time perhaps. 

Stay tune for my next entry ; Travelogue recorded at Kerikeri.