Kewpie Too cruises the south Kaipara leaving Pahi Wharf.
Kewpie Too cruises the south Kaipara leaving Pahi Wharf.
From Pahi to Shelly Beach, cruising by boat was a perfect family day-trip, writes Sarah Ell.
Auckland tends to turn its back on the Kaipara Harbour and its glories are often largely forgotten, yet the Kaipara once played an important part in the region's economy and history.
Terry and Gaye Somers at Kaipara Cruises are determined to not let the harbour be forgotten. They run a variety of day-trips around its many branches, mostly from Helensville but at times from the historic settlement of Port Albert, west of Wellsford, and from Pahi, on one of the harbour's northern arms.
We join a cruise from Pahi, a gorgeous little spot which you have to go looking to find, on the end of a finger of land surrounded by muddy tidal waters. Our transport for the afternoon is the Kewpie Too, which my husband recognises from his childhood in the Bay of Islands, where it used to run the Cream Trip.
Gaye welcomes us on board with a cup of tea and biscuits and we settle in, grabbing an inside seat as the weather is a bit grey. While Gaye is kept busy in the galley with the refreshments, Terry putt-putts the Kewpie off down the Arapaoa River towards the Kaipara Harbour proper.
It is hard to image that the low-lying farmland around us was once covered with giant kauri trees (though the Kauri Museum just up the road at Matakohe has ample evidence of the remarkable forest that was milled).
There were also a lot more people living here at Puriri Point, on the starboard bank as we head down-river. One family raised 16 children, Terry tells us as part of his running commentary.
Terry waves out to the local fishermen buzzing about their business, as the river widens out at a point called The Funnel. Here we head to port and up the Otamatea River.
At Batley, at the intersection of the two rivers, stands a gracious two-storeyed Victorian mansion, now a private home but once a hotel and "the social centre of Otamatea", Terry says. A little further up is Tanoa, with its marae and historic church, built for Wesleyan missionary the Reverend William Gittos. In its earlier, grander form it was known as the Tanoa Cathedral, and had space for 300 worshippers; now there seems to be no one about at all.
A bit of an anomaly is the Takahoa Bay gated community, where grand weekend homes — no one would call them baches — sit perched on a manicured hillside. If you're looking for splendid isolation, this is certainly the place.
Kewpie Too cruises.
We get a glimpse of the old kauri days as we putter past a large bush remnant. The big trees have gone, but optimistic kauri "rickers" are sticking their heads above the canopy. Further up the river is the site of Jane Mander's fictional kauri-milling settlement in The Story of a New Zealand River, but our progress is halted by the Ranganui rail bridge. Then it's time to retrace our steps, pushing an outgoing tide. It's a bit choppy, with too much spray to be able to sit up at the bow, but our four-year-old tucks into the wheelhouse with Terry as he steers the sturdy Kewpie and enjoys a cup of tea.
"Is there any rum in there?" Florian asks him, on the look-out for potential pirates.
We are deposited safely back at Pahi and get our land-legs back after four hours "at sea". The kids are glad for a chance to run around; with hindsight, I probably should have taken along some alternative entertainment for times when the slow-lane of the Kaipara was just a little slow for preschoolers. But the ride was smooth enough for little people, the boat safe and sturdy, and we have certainly learned a lot about this hidden corner, right on our back doorstep.
