After breakfast we packed up the car and set off for Doubtless Bay, it is only a couple of hours drive so we decided to take the scenic route. First stop was the Haruru falls just outside Paihia which we didn’t visit yesterday, these are horseshoe falls but not very high so nice but not as spectacular as the ones yesterday. We walked down to the falls, avoiding the chickens then came back to the car to start the journey. I have to say that driving through the countryside as we have been doing I think that the ‘fact’ about there being more sheep in New Zealand than people may have been a little exaggerated as all we have seen are cows, a couple of sheep but lots and lots of cowes! We started off on SH10 (the main road north) but turned off to follow the scenic tourist route that both goes up into the mountains but also runs along the coast, the scenery was quite spectacular. We stopped at Te Ngaei reserve (beach) and walked along the sea shore, there are a lot of islands and reefs in this area making the whole area look rather lovely. We had a walk along the beach then continued the journey, the next stop was Mangonui which is one bay down from cable bay where we are staying. We called into tourist information and they suggested going to the viewpoint at Rangikapiti Pa which is the highest point in the area, so we decided to drive round there and have our picnic lunch at the top which was great as the sun was out and the views in every direction were wonderful. After lunch we set off back down to Mangonui to do the Heritage trail walk we had found. This was a really interesting if quite hard walk as it took in all the old buildings in the town and unlike the Russell map actually had street names on it, but it was hard work as some of the streets were very steep, although once at the top the views made it all worthwhile. The walk took us about an hour so we decided to go and fill the car up with fuel the head round to the accommodation, tonight we are staying in a B&B so it will be interesting after having our own apartment last night. The B&B is called Ocean View and there is no danger of the name misrepresenting the location or the view, it is at the very top of a quite steep road with spectacular views over the whole of the bay. We were greeted by Martha and her husband Holy, a Swiss couple that moved to New Zealand 15 years ago, they are really nice and very keen to provide information. After we had put our bags in the room we had a glass of wine (or 2) with them sitting looking our over the bay where they gave us a lot of information about things we could do and where to eat. It was a very warm welcome, then we went to our room to relax before heading off out again in search of something to eat.
Journey from Paihia to Doubtless Bay 126km
