Kauri Coast Safari - 27 Jan 2001

Well this one hasn't actually happened yet, but my preparation has already started.  This 5 day safari around the top of the North Island (from Dargaville North) is being organised by a dedicated team whom I have yet to meet.  I think this is the second such safari of the Kauri Coast they have organised, and due to the very positive reports from some of the LRO Club members who went last time, I decided to go this year.

I plan to take the 109 V8 since it is all set up for camping.  The following is the work list to be completed before the big event:

1. Build a protective cage for the gas calafont
2. Mount the spot lights
3. Install a cooling fan for the passenger
4. Carpet the roof
5. Fit some rock sliders to protect the LPG filling point
6. Install some load tie downs in the cargo area

If I am really lucky, I might be able to squeeze in a new set of second hand mud tyres to replace the existing Dunlop Adventurers.

After the safari, I will post full details and pictures of the trip.

Update: 5/2/2001

Well, the Safari's been and gone now.  I have to say that I had a very enjoyable and relaxing time.  Even though I come form the Mid North (Tangiteroria) and had done a trip around the top of the North last Christmas, we covered a lot of country that I had never seen before.

Day 1 (Saturday)
Saturday was scrutineering day.  We had to be at the Dargaville boating club before 4:30pm to have the 109 checked out to the appropriate safety standard. 
Andrew, my co-driver and I left Auckland at approx 10:30am and arrived in Dargaville at around 1:00pm.  After scrutineering, we cruised the main street down to the water front and had lunch.  To add a little entertainment to lunch, the boating club was holding a race.  It was a handicapped start, and the contestants ranged from what appeared to be a 12' ply boat to a 40' 1930's river boat, and every thing imaginable in between!  Some of these old vessels probably belonged in the museum.  It was a great spectacle and generated a lot of discussion form the on lookers.

A pre-safari happy hour and dinner were held in the Northern Wairoa Hotel starting at 6:00pm.  A great meal was provided, followed by the drivers briefing.  This also gave us the opportunity to meet up with our fellow team members from Wellington - Simon and Andrea.
We hit the sack early in anticipation of a great days 4wheeling the following morning.

Day 2 (Sunday)
We departed Dargaville at 7:30ish and towards Tangawahine.  Just before Tangawahine, we headed off road through private property and into the first of six pine forest blocks visited during the day.  The forestry blocks visited were the "Avoca Block", the "Oputeke Block", the "Blacks Block", the "Pipiwai Block", (although we had to miss out a large portion of this block due to the forestry having changed the gate lock which our key wouldn't fit), the "Rakautao Block", and finally the "Ngawha Block".  Each block was separated by a short section of metal or tarseal road.

Landmarks of note were "Tutamoe Mountian" at 774 meters high, Twin Bridges, and the Ngawha Geothermal Power Station.  This power station is the only geothermal station outside the Taupo volcanic zone.

Our resting place for the second night was Oromahoe school.  Somehow we had manage to be the 6th team on the road in the morning and nearly dead last to reach camp in the evening.  Well we were told that it wasn't a race!
After pitching camp and boiling a brew, the dinner bell rang.  Well, did the team from Oromahoe School excel themselves here!  A pig and a mutton on the spit, so well cooked that the pig fell off during the cooking and had to be re-secured.  The organisers of the Safari were giving a prize to the school that put on the best spread, and this team were hands down winners!  In my opinion, they even out did the Northern Waiora Hotel!

Camp for day 2 was the Oromahoe School.  Awesome food!

Day 3 (Monday)
Day 3 was a farm day.  We drove through 7 farms, 6 dry stock and one dairy.  Exquisite views of the Bay of Islands were a highlight, as were the two large waterfalls on the Hutchings farm.
After driving the East coast roads heading North, a short stop at Matauri Bay, and then on to the Kitchen's farm where we drove the steep assent to the top of the hill known only at "D no2".  At a height of 475 meters, it provided an excellent view of  Doubtless Bay, Rangauni Harbour and Cape Karikari.
On the way back down the hill on a very tight and twisty track, we nearly had a mishap. 
Our stay for the night was at Pamapuria School.

Day 4 (Tuesday)
From Pamapuria School we headed for Ahipara where we left the tarseal for the sand.  Ninety Mile Beach that is.......  After driving the full length of the beach we turned up Te Paki stream where we stopped for lunch.  Unfortunately our peaceful wilderness was shortly disrupted by the arrival of 4 tour busses which offloaded a bundle of tourists who proceeded to boogie board the sand dunes.
After lunch it was metal roads again to the top of the cape.  Not the best of days for visibility, but due to the cloud cover, there was an awesome aurora around the sun.
From the Cape, it was down to Great Exhibition Bay, famous for its white pure "silica sands" once mined for glass making.  This sand is very soft and makes for very hard driving . 

From the white sands we travelled to our resting place for the night called "The Park" at Waipapakauri Beach (part of the 90 Mile Beach).

Day 5 (Wednesday)
Wednesday saw the first teams leave "The Park" at 7:30am bound for Opononi.  The early start was required to make the most of the available beach time between the high tides.
Due to the local Iwi locking the access gates, we were unable to venture up the limestone access to the "Golden Staircase", but instead we drove around the beach front from Ahipara around Tauroa Point.
This was a cultural eye opener due to the shanty town that is slowly developing on the peninsula.  Small tin shacks are progressively appearing as the community numbers increase.  Interestingly enough, Sky Satellite TV was present on one of the shacks.

The Ahipara sand dunes were the next stop.  This is a veritable wonderland for sand dune exploration, with some of the vehicles actually making it to the top.  Unfortunately, due to the weight of the 109, this was not a reality for us.  From the dues, there was a short forest drive back to the open road, where there was the choice of taking the Rawene Ferry or the back roads to Opononi.  We decided to take the roads.

Opononi school was our host for the night, with our dinner served at the local marae.

Day 6 (Thursday)
The last day unfortunately!
Leaving Opononi we headed back onto the beach at Kaikai Beach and drove South bound for Pouto Point.  At the sand dunes below the Pouto Lighthouse everyone enjoyed another dune workout before stopping at Pouto proper for lunch.
The tide chased us back around the point and after some "hard" driving in the softening sand we exited the each via Cole's Road, hit the tarseal and returned to Dargaville.  A shower and a cold beer were welcome relief from the hot sun and salty air, and then off to the Northern Waiora Hotel for the final dinner function and prize giving.

Conclusion
A very well organised trip filled with excellent site seeing opportunities.  It was great having access to land that we wound not normally have access to.  All in all, I would recommend this trip to anyone interested in a relaxing 5 day adventure, and will be booking in again I two years time.
My complements to the Kauri Coast 4 wheel Drive Club for putting together such a great trip