Today we set off on the little car ferry ( a 4 minute crossing) and headed north to Matauri Bay which is where the memorial is on the headland, looking out to the sunken Rainbow Warrior, which was sabotaged by the French special forces in 1985. The bay at Matauri is beautiful and you are suppose to be able to walk up the hill to the memorial which looks out to sea, and the final resting place of the Rainbow Warrior which although originally sunk in Auckland harbour, was towed out to make an artificial reef just off the bay. We have come to the conclusion that the locals don’t like people coming to it because there were signs saying No Entry and “Keep of the Path” - I know the spelling is incorrect there, that is how it was spelled on the sign! So we had a mozey along the beautiful deserted beach instead.
We encountered something we haven’t seen before in New Zealand…..road works! These were very different from road works in the Uk, mainly because:
1. There were people actually working where the road was coned off
2. The workmen/ladies were very happy in their jobs and smiled as the cars went past
3. They let you drive past as they were laying tar/chip in order to keep the traffic moving.
A pleasant change all round from the UK!
After, we ventured further north to Manganui which was a lovely little one street town which had 3 art galleries, a fabulous ice cream shop and a “world famous fish shop”. We got a rather delicious ice cream, sat on a bench watching the world go by, trying very hard not to skiddle on our T-shirts (I failed!), then headed home for fish (red snapper) and chips on the seafront watching the sun go down.
Matauri Bay
Another busy day at the beach
Yummy ice cream in Mangonui
World Famous Mangonui Fish Shop
Red snapper on the seafront
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