A Wilderness Motorhome is a great way to explore New Zealand, with freedom and flexibility. Photo / Northland NZ
A Wilderness Motorhome is a great way to explore New Zealand, with freedom and flexibility. Photo / Northland NZ
A motorhome holiday allows you to go wherever and whenever you want, writes Helen van Berkel
Spring's warmer temperatures, coupled with a university break, lure my daughter and I out on the roads to enjoy holiday hot spots before the tourists of summer pile in.
It feels like every second vehicle is a campervan as we head north in our four-berth Wilderness Motorhome. With nowhere in particular to be at any particular time, I'm excited to explore the historic highlights of a storied region steeped in legend and heritage.
We wind our way through Warkworth and the never-ending roadworks of the Dome Valley to Wellsford, where the Albertland Museum is a rich repository of stories and photographs about non-conformist Church of Englanders and their ultimately fruitless plans for a major settlement on the Kaipara Harbour. These tiny community museums are priceless gems, usually curated by passionate volunteers – often telling their own family histories – quietly imparting a deeper appreciation of how and why our multi-cultural nation is what it is.
Te Hana's Māori Cultural Centre deepens that appreciation. The model village reminds us that before the Bohemians and Albertlanders was a thriving and rich culture without which none of what we have now would exist.
In Kaiwaka, we pull up outside the St Paul's Anglican Church, an architectural treat on a knoll overlooking the village with a nice big park for the camper. We stock up on Dutch cheeses and salted liquorice across the highway before pushing through into darkening skies towards Whangārei.
The Hundertwasser Art Centre and Wairau Maori Art Centre opened in Whangārei in February 2022. Photo / Northland NZ
There has been much talk in recent years about Whangārei taking Auckland's port. What we did not expect was for Whangārei to have already taken Auckland's waterfront. Parking the Wilderness on a side street – to be honest, large vehicles are not well catered for – we set off on foot for the Hundertwasser Art Centre. This fabulous architectural pile of design genius is everything you expect while being everything you don't. It's colourful, it's entrancing, it's magic. We walk around its curved and colourful walls, we look at its exhibits inside. We just about trip over our feet to see it from different angles.
Mesmerised, we head in the wrong direction outside and find ourselves on the Hatea Loop – a walk of the Whangārei Town Basin that has hands down won the waterfront war with Auckland. The walk crosses the Hatea River and follows its banks, passing picturesque boatsheds, skateparks, dog parks, crosses iconic bridges – every step offers a new and lovely view. Sculptures beside the walk tell their own story and detailed explanation boards fill in the gaps.
Whangārei's Hundertwasser Art Centre is colourful, entrancing, and magical. Photo / Northland NZ
We camp for the night, snug and secure in our self-containedness. Having our own cooking facilities means we are able to prepare a healthy dinner without having to resort to takeout. We pull window blinds across to close ourselves off to the outside world and with the push of a button, our comfortable beds luxuriously unfold from the ceiling.
When the rain comes the next day, it's horizontal. The violent wind smacks us as we park on the Paihia roadside, rocking slightly in the gale. Across the road is the stone pile of St Paul's Anglican Church. The blue-stone classic structure of steeple and buttressed walls sharpens and fades with the driving torrents. I take shelter under the tossing boughs at the gate and then run hopscotch fashion to the black and white tiled porch and the near-silence under the stained glass windows inside. The first church was built on a mission station here in 1823; the stone version you see today is the fifth church on this site.
As the normally gentle blue tide continues to roll in as yellow-brown rollers discoloured by churning sands, I regretfully abandon plans to head to Russell and instead head inland to Kerikeri, grateful the camper gives me the flexibility to change my plan on a whim.
Haruru Falls roars in golden ecstasy but despite my disappointment at having to miss out on the finer details of the east coast, Kerikeri makes it all worthwhile. Google maps and road signs are in conflict here so here's the deal: the road signs lead you to a car park across the river from the Stone Store – accessed by a footbridge - but Google will bring you directly to the historic precinct. Parking is abundant on both sides, even for the Wilderness. We end up parking on first on one side and then driving around to the other as we explore the store, the church on the hill and walk up to the pā on the promontory.
Kerikeri Mission Station is part of the historic waterfront precinct. Photo / Northland NZ
Nothing is cosier than the sound of rain on the roof and parked at the Wagon Wheel in Kerikeri, that pitter-patter is only centimetres away. The following morning we are Cape bound, following the road as it winds through hamlets with more syllables than inhabitants, enjoying the unexpected discoveries along the way.
In Kaeo we stop off for our morning coffee at Donna's Cafe, and learn the various stories behind the yacht abandoned in the middle of town. Take your choice, the friendly barista tells us, as she gives the differing stories of how the mysterious hull ended up so far from the coast.
Suddenly, we are in Mangonui for the world-famous fish and chip shop that is our lunch destination. We munch our fresh-as-fresh meal while watching a tiny fishing vessel churn through the sandy-green waters with the latest catch.
We feel the spiritual significance of the Cape as we near Spirits Bay. The roiling ocean is a violent expanse of clashing seas where the currents of the Tasman and the Pacific meet, hitherto kept apart by the expanse of the North Island.
The wind shreds the rain clouds into grey ribbons and a weak, pale yellow light bathes this special ground as we stand alone at the top.
Behind us, the famous lighthouse is a beacon of light to shipping.
And behind the physical pinnacle of this land we call home are the cultures that carved new communities, the histories of those that came first, the failures of all of us to understand each other but also the determination for all of us to do better - for this land that, for all of us, is our turangawaewae.
With those thoughts, we brew ourselves another cup of coffee, and point the Wilderness south towards home.
A Wilderness Motorhome is a great way to explore Northland, with the freedom to be flexible. Photo / Helen van Berkel
CHECKLIST: NORTHLAND
DETAILS Wilderness Motorhomes has pick-up and drop-off locations in Auckland and Christchurch. For rates and more information, see wilderness.co.nz
