To Northland the quick and easy way

Press, 24 August 1976, Page 23

To Northland the quick and easy way

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor of “The Press”

The dramatic increase in the cost of motoring during the last year and the more recent introduction of a 10 per cent tax on overseas travel have greatly boosted the appeal of fly/drive holidays within New Zealand. Indeed. more New Zealanders than ever before are'heeding the call to "See New Zealand First” without even opening their garage door.

A couple of years ago, when petrol

cost about half what it does today, I decided to drive north—to the far, far north where according to Maori legend, the spirits finally leave the Land of the Long White Cloud for their eternal resting place of Hawaiiki. But I never quite made it; I suppose

you could say the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak, particularly on a seemingly never-ending hostile section of corrugated road about 15 miles from the northernmost tip of Cape Reinga. That particular journey from Christchurch took four full days. (It would have been three had not the men whose job it is to go to sea in the Cook Strait ferries decided that they wouldn’t for 24 hours.) Then it took' another three days of driving to get home. After a week at the wheel I felt about as pooped as an out-of-condition rally driver. There had to be an easier way and, with the help of N.A.C., I found it last week. Within five hours of watching Christchurch dissolve beneath a dismal layer of easterly mist, I was enjoying the warmth of a Kaitaia afternoon. Kaitaia—now there’s a friendly town for you; is reminiscent in many ways of the charm and warmth that is still to be found on the West Coast. The town is already experiencing a minor tourist boom and is planning for even greater times ahead. Mr D. W. Robinson, manager of Orana Motel and president of the Far North Promotion Society, believes Kaitaia will eventually become the hub for tourist activities in the top part of Northland.

Motels and hotels are being upgraded and extended, and at the last count there were more than 500 beds available. And it’s still difficult to find an empty one when the season is in full swing.

Kaitaia has much to offer the visitor, but its greatest attraction undoubtedly is the trip to Cape Reinga lighthouse. This time I made it right to the end of the road in the comfort of an airconditioned coach. Star Mini Tours operate day-long excursions to the Cape with frequent stops at places of interest along the way. The walk to the lighthouse takes about five minutes from the end of the road and affords excellent views of several beautiful bays and beaches. There is also a signpost at the lighthouse to inform, for instance, that Sydney is 1975 kilometres to the west, Suva 1900 to the north-east, and the Equator, 3820 to the north. Bluff, according to the sign, was 1400 kilometres somewhere behind me.

The highlight of the trip was the return journey. The bus left the main road to follow the Te Paki Stream down

to the west coast for the 60 kilometri drive south along the sands of fht 90 Mile Beach—oh for roads so smooth and uncluttered.

The following day I drove a rental car from Kaitaia down the east coast; past the Tokerau Peninsula. Doubtless Bay and Mangonui to Kerikeri. Whangaroa, and other quiet havens of the beautiful Bay of Islands. Mr Pat Sheedy. manager of the Tourist Hotel Corporation’s Waitangi Hotel, believes that the Bay has a different package to offer the visitor than the area I had just left 200 kilometres to the north. There are, for instance, the ever popular cruises; deep-sea fishing expeditions; and excelelnt sporting facilities It is also an ideal spot for just plain lazing around. The drive from Waitangi to Whangarei is short and pleasant and was covered next day with ease in less than an hour. From kaitaia I had driven 350 kilometres.

Christchurch was still cool and damp when I returned that afternoon. In fact it looked—and felt much the same as it was when I left three days earlier.