Northland Kaitāia © Getty Images
KAITĀIA
THE NORTHERNMOST TOWN IN NEW ZEALAND; EXPERTS ON ALL THINGS KAURI AND A GOOD STARTING POINT TO EXPLORE AUPOURI PENINSULA.
Ninety Mile Beach © David Kirkland
Te Ahu Centre, Kaitaia © David Kirkland Kaitāia © Getty Images
W
hile in Kaitāia visit Te Ahu, a modern and inviting visitor’s centre where you can interactively learn about the history of the Far North, from local Māori tribes to the Dalmatian and Europeans. Then experience Gumdiggers Park, for its formidable 100,000-yearold buried kauri tree. It’s partly exposed so guests can have a good gawp.
32
Gumdiggers sought the kauri trees’ amber-coloured sap right up until the 1950s and this park, formerly the country’s largest gumfield, has been lovingly preserved. Afterward, visit the Ancient Kauri Kingdom. As the biggest retailer of kauri products in the world, climb a staircase carved inside the hollows of a kauri tree and buy various kauri items.
A
t the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach there is a small, rugged beach town with a big surprise. Ahipara boasts monstrous folds of sand that seem to tickle the sky and stretch as far as the eye can see. Simply park up, rent a boogie board, clamber up a dune and fly back down. From sand to sea, Ahipara is also home to one of the best left-hand surf breaks in the country as well as amazing sunsets, a golf course parallel to Ninety Mile Beach, surfcasting, quad biking and horse trekking. Shipwreck Bay is where you’re going to find those gnarly left-hand breaks, which will give you a good indication of how unruly the waves can get and how the bay got its name. You can also walk along the foreshore towards Ahipara Gumfields Historic Reserve for relics from the area’s prosperous gumdigging days.
PAGE 9 - REGIONAL MAP
