Oct 24, 2010 – Sunday – Kerikeri – Ahipara and Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand
After having poached eggs and toast for breakfast, and doing a load of laundry at the B&B, we drive north from Kerikeri. First stop is Mangonui; a very picturesque harbour town with fish boats on the dock, an old hotel, post office, and courthouse. Next stop is Cable Bay, which has a nice rough sand beach and some lovely homes overlooking the beautiful bay.
We then drive over to the Tasman Sea side of New Zealand and see the southerly part of the famous Ninety Mile Beach at the little community of Ahipara. This will have to do, since we decided the 90-mile drive to the northern tip was going to be too much for us.
We then drive back south, taking a secondary road, which goes through Broadmead and re-joins Highway 1 at the Mangamuka Bridge. This section of road is paved, but very narrow, and seems to be an endless series of hills and curves. It is slow going until we are back on Highway 1 heading east. We then re-join Highway 10 north to Kerikeri. It is an interesting day, but we are tired by the time we get back to the B&B later in the afternoon after filling up the rental car with NZ$100 worth of gasoline. New Zealand gasoline prices are about 25% higher than what we pay in Canada.
We decide to have a steak dinner at the B&B this evening, so we go to the supermarket to purchase four New Zealand steaks, some ready-made salads, and some New Zealand wine. We prepare everything, and Keith volunteers to cook the steaks. The meal is pulled together in short order, and we all sit down on the back patio by the pool to enjoy the delicious food. Keith pulls out some Taylor’s Port – Rich Old Tawny 1981 to finish the meal with. The Rich Old Tawny was twenty years old in 1981, so it goes down nicely – a very fine port indeed!