Continuing on our journey to Karekare beach…
We cross the black sand dunes, through strands of cabbage palms. The black sand is a muddy black after the week’s rains, but on a summer’s day the quartz glitters and becomes positively scorching.
Tag Archives: new zealand
Kanuka Glade
Getting to KareKare Beach from the carpark involves a bit of a walk. Firstly under a canopy of kanuka (or tea tree to us Aussies).
The Strength of Water
I watched a delightful film at the Sydney Film Festival last week called The Strength of Water. It’s about two Maori kids growing up in remote Northland.
It’s wonderful what can be done with non-professional actors, especially children. In this film the film-makers really brought out the best in them and the landscape they inhabited.
It brings to mind all the strikingly beautiful places I visited last October on my journey around Northland, where the film was shot, particularly Hokianga and the West Auckland black sand beaches. To illustrate, here are my two favourite shots from the trip:
At the head of Hokianga Harbour.
Driftwood on KareKare Beach, west of Auckland.
Black and White Memories
It’s been 3 months since I returned from my holiday in Northland. I took my trusty Olympus OM-2 to NZ – a 30 year old camera that was my dad’s – and yesterday I got the film developed. I miss the thrill that you get upon first glimpsing your photos. Never happens any more in this instant digital age. I like the moodiness of these shots. There’s something about black and white photos that can’t be replicated with a digital SLR – character.
Voices of Angels
Blogging about Karekare has made me think of Crowded House and their wonderful album Together Alone which they recorded in a makeshift studio at the back of the beach. It is my favourite CH album because it is so atmospheric.
I went in search of live performances of songs from the album, and while doing so I discovered this gem:
It must be the one of the most poignant versions of Throw Your Arms Around Me I’ve heard, and certainly the most unique.
The kids also did this fantastic version of another CH favourite, Private Universe.
Karekare
Black sand
Black as mud
Sea spray wisps
From pummelling sea
Footprints recede
Into majestic cliffs
Weathered driftwood
Like dinosaur bones
Bleached against black
Sensual sea
Smell, feel, taste
Invigorating
My soul to soar
Drawfed as am I
By such magnificence
Hokianga Heaven
In a secluded corner of Northland, far, far away from the tourist hordes of Bay of Islands, lies the jewel-like harbour of Hokianga. There are no buses – a battered old car is all you need – and no harbour bridges – you can only cross by car ferry.
It is tropical. The bush is actually sub-tropical rainforest, and they can grow macadamias and avocados and papayas and all other manner of tropical fruits there. It is coastal, with a massive dune system that stretches out into the ether.
It is also a very old place. Western civilisation may only be 150 years young there, but the forests themselves are thousands of years old. The trees there can be incredibly old, and when you look at the massive Tane Mahuta, you’re seeing history.
Hokianga has definitely left a mark on my memory.
To the End of the Earth
If New Zealand is on the edge of the world, then Cape Reinga must be where you fall off!
A day touring around the tip of Northland is eye-opening in a lot of ways. From the holiday village of Ahipara to the listlessness of Kaitaia, from the wildness of Ninety Mile Beach to the sheltered harbours of the east coast, from sandboarding down dunes to sedately fishing in calm waters. There’s certainly a lot on offer, and I got a good sample of it.
No doubt in Doubtless Bay
Just returned from New Zealand. Yes, your honour, I might have a slight addiction to this country. Then again who could blame me. There are so many stunning places. Witness my latest journey to Northland. Might have only been gone a fortnight and driven less than the distance from Sydney to Brisbane, but I saw 10x as many things.
Northland actually reminds me a lot of the NSW North Coast, only much, much more laidback, and with the exception of Paihia, much less touristy. The area around Doubtless Bay is an example. Absolutely lovely place, and thankfully a place where tourist buses have yet to roam.
Wellington Guide
What do you know, being on Flickr does reap some dividends. This photo I took of the interior of Old St. Paul’s Cathedral got into the Schmap Guide to Wellington, NZ.
Static and Silence 
