Mahinepua Peninsula

I left Paihia early on July the 13th for another travel day, to save my self as much time as possible for my trip to Cape Reinga on the 14th. The plan was definitely for a scenic travel day with quite a bit of tramping, with the main goal being the Duke’s Nose. First stop however was the petrol station, where I spent an embarrassingly long time figuring out how to open the lid (thank God for online manuals). Then just a short little drive to my first stop, Haruru Falls, just outside of Paihia.

Haruru Falls

There was a lot of water in the falls thanks to the Friday’s foul weather, and I’m happy I visited, but not something really worth going out of your way for. My next stop was just another 20 minutes drive on, to another waterfall, this one a lot mightier. The power in Rainbow Falls was jaw-dropping, falling around 20 metres into a large bowl of a lake, the mist thrown up by it was enough to fog up my glasses on the other shore a few hundred metres away. On less intense days you can walk in behind the waterfall, but that was out of the question, and even just scrambling over the hexagonal basalt pillars to see it from the side might have been a tad risky (and very wet).

Rainbow Falls

What came next was quite a long, but also very scenic, drive northward and out to the coast. On smaller and smaller road I went, through solitary woods, finally ending up on a gravel road ending at a beach in Mahinepua Bay. By now the weather had dried up quite a bit, and was starting to look fine when I left my car and set out on the main walk of the day (though I didn’t know it at the time). Mahinepua peninsula is a high, two kilometre long and, very narrow, peninsula, stretching out into the sea. The walk started out first walking through farmland before then turning wilder, on small but well-kept paths winding their way along the rolling hills of the peninsula.

Being completely alone on these rugged hills strewn with native bushland and the bright pop of red sand from out on the point was really something special. The walk was also really quite perfect, not to steep, with wonderful views both into the bay, and out towards the rough cliffs of the coastline to the north. Not to mention looking out over the pacific and knowing that likely as not the next land in that direction is a third off a world away, in North America.

Looking north along the coastline

I had my lunch out at the headland looking out over the red headland and the two islands just off the shore, a really magical experience. Though I did spend too much time on this walk considering my plans (completely worth it), as by the time I had enjoyed the walk back to my car the time was close to one pm, and I still wanted to hit Saint Paul’s Rock and had more than an hour of driving before I would get to the Duke’s Nose.

The headland of Mahinepua Peninsula

Wavering a bit on my plans, I first decided to skip the rock to have time for the Duke’s Nose. But then as I was driving past it, the combination of it looking so cool and me doing some more realistic maths on the hours meant I decided to skip the Nose (was a four-hour walk with quite a bit of elevation, and I was no longer fresh, so would have been walking alone in the mountains in the dark). So instead I turned off to Saint Paul’s Rock.

Looking up at Saint Paul’s Rock

Still hurrying quite a bit, both due to wonky parking and a bit of a delusion that I might, might still get to the Nose, I started the climb up towards the rock. It is a maybe 30-metre-high rock formation sticking out on top of a roughly 150 metre tall pointy grass hill, looking very majestic and dominating the local landscape. The climb up was surprisingly difficult, being very steep with wet and sometimes muddy grass, which can be very slippery. Climbing the actual rock was done with the help of a chain and some iron steps. It was quite an out of breath Jonatan who was greeted by an absolutely stunning view of the Whangaroa Harbour with high hills or mountains on the other side.

Whangaroa Harbour

But just a few minutes later I was greeted by a light but cold rain, which sent me scurrying back down to my car, and cleared away my last imaginary hope of climbing a Nose. So instead I drove the last half hour up to Mangonui where I would be staying the night, and checked into my 6 square meter suit. And you might have thought that that was the end of the days’ adventures, I certainly thought so, and spent the next couple of hours resting up with a nice shower. But then, as the evening hit Golden Hour, I decided that I would head up the short (not really) walk to the Rangikapiti Pa Historic Reserve just north of town.

The golden light made the little fishing village with all its sailboats out in the harbour a real piece of art. Then coming to the reserve and realising that this is getting quite dark walking through the forest with the sun setting below the horizon. And oh, this is way further than I though (especially after an already long day of walking), but it all turned out worth it. The pink sky from the top of the Pa (old Maori fortified earthworks) was really something unique, and as I made my way back into town the sight of the boats sillouets against the reflective sea and burning sky was lovely.

The twilight sky from the Rangikapiti Pa

On the way back, I had the day’s Snapper catch at a small Fish ‘n Ship shop on stilts in the harbour (the kitchen at the hotel was a microwave) which was really nice. Though I did spend a significant part of my diner wondering over all the tiny wine bottles on all the tables, and also where they could have hidden the salt and pepper (turns out these two were connected). To finish off my evening, when I walked the last few hundred meters back home I could enjoy a really great stary night sky.