Day 400, Year 1: To Kerikeri on the Paihia Shuttle
Date: Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Weather: Flip Flop—Sunny Day with Blue Skies; Cloudy Evening
Location: Opua, New Zealand

We have been having cloudy days with skies clearing in the late evening. Today was the opposite. We had a beautiful day for our tour of the town of Kerikeri, but by the time we got back to Windbird, the skies had clouded over. But no complaints. At least it hasn’t been raining for a few days. So at 1030 this morning, with the sun shining brightly, Paddy from Zafarse, Sharon from Mustang Sally, Judy and Ray from Nereid, Nick and Gert from Tartufo, Anna and Clyff from Koncerto, and Mark and I hopped into the Paihia shuttle van. Naomi and Geoff run the shuttles. Normally Geoff takes a group of cruisers into Paihia each day. Today he did that, while Naomi took us to Kerikeri. As you drive through the countryside here, you see the wonderful things that all of the rain brings to this area. There are lush green fields everywhere. Cows are grazing in some fields, sheep are grazing in others, and still other fields are filled with grape arbors. This is New Zealand wine country and there are three major vineyards between here and Kerikeri. In addition, there are tree ferns growing everywhere and signs all along the way for buying fresh fruits and vegetables. This area is known as the citrus capital of New Zealand, and there are olive, avocado, and macadamia orchards. Kerikeri is one of the fastest growing areas in New Zealand, and I can certainly see why.

The town of Kerikeri is perfectly “manicured”. There are hanging pots of purple, red, and pink flowers hanging in front of all of the stores on the main street. There are lots of sidewalk cafes, each offering at least fifteen different kinds of coffee and an assortment of local wines. When we reached downtown Kerikeri, everyone but us got off the shuttle. Naomi was driving on through town so she agreed to drop us off in the area where we could tour the historic buildings. So off we went. We visited the oldest home, the oldest gardens, the oldest stone structure, and the oldest church in New Zealand. In the early 1800’s this area of New Zealand was the coastal stronghold of the Maori called the Kororipo Pa. By 1820, European missionaries moved into the area, first living in thatched fales, and then building and living in the Kereikeri Mission House. This is the house we toured today. It is amazing that it survived the years of struggle between the Maori and the missionaries, but it did survive. We loved walking through the gardens which have been actively cultivated since 1820. Next door to the mission house is the Stone Store. This was built and opened by the missionaries in 1834. The missionaries hoped to win over the Maori through trade. That was not so successful and eventually the structure was used as a general store. Today it houses examples of tools used in New Zealand in the early 1800’s. I was especially impressed with the display of cut nails that were imported from Massachusetts. After the Stone Store visit, we walked up the hill to the St. James Church, the oldest in New Zealand. When we were finished touring, we walked a backwoods trail to get us back into downtown Kerikeri.

We had lunch at one of those picturesque street cafes and then headed to New World. This is the largest grocery store in this area and we toured it just as we had the historic sites. It has been quite a while since we have seen so much fresh produce, meat, and other goodies all under one roof. Naomi met all of us at the store at 3 pm, and we loaded up and headed back to Opua. All in all, it was a very pleasant day.

This evening we had dinner aboard Makani with Felix and Monica. They rented a car and spent the past two days touring in this area. We enjoyed hearing about their adventures and just catching up on our travels of the past few months. We saw them last in Bora Bora, so we had lots of ground to cover.

Tomorrow we will stay aboard Windbird to do a little more maintenance before heading into the Opua Cruising Club for Thanksgiving Dinner. We’re still not sure when we will be leaving here and heading for Whangarei. We are truly enjoying our time here and are going to find it hard to pull ourselves away.

061122 Day 400 New Zealand–Opua Anchorage Memories