We had stayed put for a few months and our itch for traveling and exploring had to be scratched. Taking advantage of the Queen's birthday weekend (the last long weekend until the end of October), we went on another trip up North. This time we chose a little community nestled along the Pacific coast and the banks of an estuary.
Mangawhai Village and its sister town, Mangawhai Heads, are popular seaside holiday destinations well-known to Aucklanders, but kept a secret from the tourist crowds (we found out about the area from a Kiwi colleague of mine). The two towns are linked by a picturesque causeway surrounded by native wetlands and bush. They are home to many artists and craftsmen (of whom we met one, by chance... more about this amazing encounter below). The area is also known for its thriving chocolate making (a bizarre chilli flavoured chocolate seemed like an interesting concept - not so much to E's liking, though), avocado, wine, and olive oil industries.
For some historical information about the area, visit
Mangawhai Historical Society, Inc.We rented a bach (we really enjoy staying at people's holiday homes - they all have so much more character than your regular hotel rooms and they all tell us stories about their owners, which suits well my voyeuristic nature).
We started our adventure in Mangawhai with a short stop on Surf Beach.
I then did a three-hour walk along the clifftops. Eric did his hike the following day so that each of us could enjoy the "me" time and the beautiful scenery without the challenges of "schlepping" a toddler along... especially since the said toddler's normally pleasant personality has been recently overcome by the ugly traits of the "Terrible Twos."
At low tide, one can do this hike in a loop: walk along the cliffs all the way to the Pebble Beach (that is what I named the beach for the obvious reason) and then walk along the beach back to where the hike starts - on Surf Beach. My timing was not very opportune, though, so after 1.5 hrs of a rather easy hike, I spent a bit of time on the beach (all by myself) watching the water, the islands in the distance, and enjoying the beauty and peacefulness of the place.
On my way back the scenery managed to enthrall me again.
After my walk, we visited the Animal Park (see: farm) which unfortunately, and despite the ads heralding to the contrary, turned out to be closed. Disappointed as we were, we tried to make the best of it: we took advantage of the presence of a lone goat munching on grass (the creature made a natural model).
Before we left home we had printed out a list of local, kid-friendly attractions. I made a few phone calls while the boys were befriending the goat. At one of the places, a donkey farm, a nice lady, Jo, told me that her place had been closed to the public for the last 5 years but, if we were keen, we could come over because she was just about to go out to feed her animals. Speechless (at her kindness) and extremely excited (anything to occupy the whiny "monster-of-a-son" we are currently putting up with) we drove quickly to Penrose Farm. I'm sure that my pictures will not do any proper justice to the place. Suffice it to say, I felt like we entered an enchanted country the moment our underpowered-pathetic-excuse-of-a-Subaru rolled onto the premises (it did not help that half-way through the visit the battery in my camera died!).
Jo and Malcolm were our hosts - an extremely kind and friendly couple who had lived in the area for over 40 years. They were incredibly welcoming, thoughtful and comfortable with E; He was able to feed the pigs (Honey and Molasses), feed the donkeys and groom and ride one of them - Jacko, feed the chickens and look for eggs with Jo in the coop, and feed the doves.
Eric and I were truly moved by the generosity of the Roberts'. After we came back home and I was googling the couple to find their address, I stumbled upon an article about Malcolm. Turns out he is a well-known local artist (
Mangawhai Artists).
Still speechless and feeling warm in our hearts, we stopped at a local bar, Smashed Pipi (ok, so I really do not know what it means however I'm leaning towards this translation: "Drunken Pipilongstockings," which is really weird since Pipi was my idol when I was much younger and poured over the stories of her adventures). At "Smashed Pipi" E was given a grand tour of the kitchen (to satisfy his ever starving curiosity) and was allowed to place logs on the fire. By then, Eric and I were ready to claim that Mangawhai is the most hospitable place on the face of Earth!
The following day, hungry for more gestures of uncommon human "big-heartedness," we accepted an invitation to an Alpaca Farm. I had called Chris and Dave the day before looking for some interesting activities for E. Again, even though their place was not open to the public, the couple invited us over to their place to meet their animals. And again, our experience was that of uncommon graciousness, openness, and friendliness. E was allowed to hang out with (see: touch, chase, scream at, and feed) the alpacas, while Eric and I were learning interesting things about those animals.
Before we left, Chris and Dave showed us and let E feel wool they had from their "girls." We purchased the cutest, hand-made sweater for E - he insisted on wearing it for two days straight afterwards.
To end that day we tried to get to the estuary for a walk along its bank. Unfortunately,the access "road" was flooded.
The last morning, before we headed back home, was devoted to some time on the beach.
While Eric and E were flying the kite, I was taking in the amazing scenery and felt sad about needing to leave this wonderful place.
