Taumarumaru Scenic Reserve

A few days ago I posted about our visit to Rangikapiti Pa site in Mangonui, this one is also another of the same but instead it's been renamed "Taumarumaru Scenic Reserve" and it's located in Cooper's Beach (Doubtless Bay).

There were suppose to be terraces and storage pits but large areas of the land was covered in scrub and weeds so apart from the walking track and miles of long grass the only thing to see was the coastline, but we definitely weren't complaining about that.

This one was a bit more of a walk than the last one, several hills to climb but worth the views on the way up.  This reserve doesn't just have 1 pa site it apparently has 3 which had historical significance to the Ngai Awa and later Ngati Kahu people. 

 It is 22ha in size and was purchased by the Crown in 1984 for public enjoyment, people are allowed to bring their dogs as long as they are on a leash.  This was the view over the coastline from the top looking towards the Mangonui and Hihi Beach area.

Looking over the other side this is the view over Cooper's Beach and Taipa.

The top track lead either way to either straight down or another one here lead down to a pristine beach with golden sand.

Once we were down there it was nice to paddle in the cool water. We get fairly mild winters up here so you can still sit on a beach and enjoy the sun when it's out.  Since we visited here on a Monday we were pretty much the only ones around.

Stay safe where you are, kia kaha.

A visit to Rangikapiti Pa

Road trip time! Yesterday the other half and I drove out 45 minutes to Mangonui to visit 2 historical Maori Pa sites. This was one of them - Rangikapiti Pa which was a significant site for the Ngati Kahu tribe and their ancestor Moehuri who made land fall here in his canoe.

There are amazing views over the Mangonui Harbour, terraces which were used for gardening and housing with defensive ditches around the mountain. It was extremely windy when we were standing on top so it must've been very fortified with fences for protection.

This monument was placed here in 1880 and gives tribute to what once was as well as the longitude, latitude and sea level.

Apart from some pohutukawa, most of the reserve is covered in regenerating manuka while the rest is covered in grass. This was an easy walk up hill that took us about 10 minutes and from the other side of the pa we had views over Coopers Beach and Doubtless Bay.

Here's an idea of what it would've looked like. Stay safe - kia kaha.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My Corner of the World.

Taking a breather at Coopers Beach

On Sunday the other half (who is an essential worker) and I drove briefly up to Coopers Beach which is about an hour north of us. Such an amazing beautiful coastline and with us going into Autumn right now the day was overcast but it was so good to get out to breath some ocean air. I spotted this father and son doing a spot of surf casting with their rods, it doesn't look like they caught anything as there was so much seaweed in the tide.

We stopped at the beach and I took photos of the scenery including this guy while the other half crossed the road and waited in line (with 2 metre social distancing of course) to order some fish and chips - while he bought some battered fresh fish I had some battered mussels.

Our large bird friend above is apparently a Black Backed Gull (Karoro) and was 3 times the size of the squawky seagulls.  They are known to be quite aggressive towards other birds because they apparently pick on some of the endangered species like Terns, Black Billed Gulls and the Banded Dotterils. They are not threatened at all, live for about 14 years and breed from mid October to late January - from Spring to mid Summer.

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Cooper's beach retro bach

I spotted this holiday bach in a secluded part of Cooper's Beach and estimate it to be possibly around 30-40 years old - looks retro to me. We're having a very blah Winter so far, mostly overcast gray cloudy days - typical when you live in the far north of NZ.

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Blustery Hihi Beach

Usually on Sundays we like to relax as it's our first day off each week but we decided to get outdoors instead. So after driving through the countryside for about 50 minutes we stopped at Hihi (hee hee) beach.

My hayfever allergies were playing up to the max so I was sneezing alot but it was good to get out of the car and walk along the sand.

Very choppy waves and a chilly breeze blew us around a bit. The only sign of life we saw was in the form of 2 young surf-casters walking with their rods around the rocks.

From the beach we could see over to the other side of the bay - this is Cooper's Beach in the distance.

Definitely not a day for swimming I think. This is quite an isolated spot with a few holiday homes and baches grouped together, not my cup of tea. I like small town life but it's convenience to have a supermarket, shops and other outlets where we live. I bet this place is packed over Summer though.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My Corner of the World.