Its been ½ term here in NZ for the last couple of weeks and I took this last week off and took the family on a trip to Northland to the Kauri Coast camping at the Kai Iwi Lakes...
The lakes are interesting as they are ancient freshwater lagoons that were once trapped behind a dune system now they are about 1.5k from the coast...
I took a walk around the largest lake Taharoa with my oldest son William who is 6..
http://www.kaipara.govt.nz/images/dp_maps_Y260809.jpg
We kicked off from the camp ground here are some views of the beach at Pine beach campground I took the previous evening..
On the way we passed quite a few paper wasps getting ready for the winter ahead..
The path brought us to Sandy bay where we took a few photos...
Onwards for a lunch stop and simple fare salami and apple eaten in the shade of a red pine..
We found some great bivvy spots on the way such as this one under a large pohutakawa tree
With a n ice view of the lake
Then on past a swamp full of dead manuka trees..
Back to the camp ground in time for tea and a nice sunset..
A couple of days later we found and climbed Maungaraho Rock which is a few Kms south of Dargaville..
Here it is from some distance..
And a bit closer up...
The path circles behind the rock in the photos and then climbs up to the obvious saddle on the LH side of the photo. Maungaraho Rock is an old volcanic plug and is about 300m high.
Here is William on the via ferrata ladder on the way to the saddle.
And a view looking back down at the ladder from the saddle
A few shots of the view from the top.
Finally a view of the rock close up the way up runs from left to right along the ridgeline in the photo
We had a good time on the climb and the walk...
The lakes are interesting as they are ancient freshwater lagoons that were once trapped behind a dune system now they are about 1.5k from the coast...
I took a walk around the largest lake Taharoa with my oldest son William who is 6..
http://www.kaipara.govt.nz/images/dp_maps_Y260809.jpg
We kicked off from the camp ground here are some views of the beach at Pine beach campground I took the previous evening..
On the way we passed quite a few paper wasps getting ready for the winter ahead..
The path brought us to Sandy bay where we took a few photos...
Onwards for a lunch stop and simple fare salami and apple eaten in the shade of a red pine..
We found some great bivvy spots on the way such as this one under a large pohutakawa tree
With a n ice view of the lake
Then on past a swamp full of dead manuka trees..
Back to the camp ground in time for tea and a nice sunset..
A couple of days later we found and climbed Maungaraho Rock which is a few Kms south of Dargaville..
Here it is from some distance..
And a bit closer up...
The path circles behind the rock in the photos and then climbs up to the obvious saddle on the LH side of the photo. Maungaraho Rock is an old volcanic plug and is about 300m high.
Here is William on the via ferrata ladder on the way to the saddle.
And a view looking back down at the ladder from the saddle
A few shots of the view from the top.
Finally a view of the rock close up the way up runs from left to right along the ridgeline in the photo
We had a good time on the climb and the walk...
