Up the West Coast

Our journey north took us up the West Coast as we criss crossed the country from Mangawhai. On the way through, we consulted a magazine feature about the best things to do in Northland, and we found ourselves climbing Tokatoka Peak. Just a short, but sharp, climb from the neighbouring road, the peak afforded us panoramic views of the surrounding land and river, although it was a pretty murky day.

Maddy wanted to play "King of the Castle" while up the top, but as it was a pretty windy day, we feared that she'd get blown away. So I kept her on the lead while Ian checked out the full view.

Then it was on to Dargaville, our night's stop. Since we've joined the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association (NZMCA), we have access to a huge directory of thousands of cheap/free camping sites throughout the country. Another perusal of our new bible directed us to Dargaville Museum, high up on a hill above the "city". Here the charge was just $10. No power, but a toilet and, what turned out to be, a private campground! For the second night running we were on our own!

On our way up to the museum, we'd spotted a frisbee golf course. Now as we'd familiarised ourselves with this sport on our first visit to NZ, we keep frisbees in the van, for just such an opportune moment!

We were also able to look back at the peak we had just climbed. Tokatoka is quite distinctive as the very pointy hill on the right hand side.

Dargaville Museum is also home to the masts of the Rainbow Warrior. The Greenpeace ship was sunk off the Bay of Islands in 1985, but the Museum's owner negotiated the transferral of the masts to his nautical-themed exhibit.