Whangarei

2015-01-02

(I'll be dating our Northland trip posts with the dates of the trip.)


To start off the new year, we embarked on a multi-day driving tour through the Northland region.  We planned our departure in order to arrive in Auckland in time to watch the Alabama game.  As luck would have it, the game was playing on the only TV in the hotel lobby-bar. We had planned to stream it in the room, but ESPN Australia on TV was better.


On the way to Auckland we stopped for lunch in Hamilton.  Before we left Hawera, Laura asked a co-worker about things to do in Hamilton. All she could come up with was a "nice rose garden".  Our Fodors guidebook also suggested Hamilton could be skipped if pressed for time.  We went downtown for a bite to eat and tried a Mediterranean joint called Yakos.  Our first warning sign was the absence of anyone in the cafe.  Next, the Italian waitress plowed us a with tale of her last client and how his card had been declined.


We've been trying with some success to keep Steven dairy free for the past few weeks and his skin has been remarkably better, but ordering dairy free can be tricky and in this case, too tricky.  The Italian bird was having trouble with our bama-kiwi accent as I left the table for the toilet.  When I returned Laura announced, "The waitress is having difficulty understanding us, doesn't want to serve us and has asked us to leave."  Eh?  So we left.  Yakos was empty when we got there, empty when we left and soon to be permanently empty. We got the kids a Subways and went to an Indian joint that tried to run us out for bringing in outside food.  Hamilton has seen the last of us.


Day two found us in heavy traffic north of Auckland.  A two hour drive turned into a 3.5 hour ordeal as we struggled to get to our next destination of Whangarei (the wh digraph is pronounced as an 'f' in Maori).  Once there, we had a nice time.  I took in the Clapham Clock Museum while the kids played in the park.


After checking into our motel, we put together a picnic evening "tea" and went to Whangarei falls. The falls and surrounding park are in the middle of a subdivision, but they are still an impressive site.

Monkeys on the playground

The Komet Music Box

The music box in these pictures is in Clapham's clock museum.  A pull out drawer full of music discs is in the lower cabinet beneath the glass door.

In front of Clapham's Clock Museum, Whangarei

Whangarei Harbor

Whangarei Falls