ATVing On Baylys Beach

From Dargaville we drove the few miles back to the coast again and spent the night at the Baylys Beach holiday park where we had stayed in 2014. On that visit we fulfilled one of Vicki's wish list items, namely, horseback riding on a great beach. Baylys is right up there with the so-called Hundred Mile Beach, actually only sixty; both feature scores of undeveloped miles of broad hard-packed sand beaches, backed by sandstone cliffs. They are totally drivable by 2wd and 4wd vehicles at low tide. (All NZ road laws apply to these beaches). Anyhow, the horse thing in 2014 was nice, another once-in-a-lifetime deal. This year we wanted to drive an ATV (not Rooby) on the beach, and so rented one for an hour's ride from the nice people at the holiday park. We got about 5 miles either side of Baylys Beach town and had a blast.

From the cliffs

Heading north on the beach

It was the Friday of a four-day Easter weekend, and all kinds
of people were out, walking, driving, wading, fishing, clamming

Cliffs similar to Riparo Beach

Big beach, looking north many miles

Heading back south

Diggers

Left turn for Baylys Beach town

Coal seam with waterfall

Southward

Torpedo fisher-persons

Torpedo

Lots going on at the beach

Our steed

On windy Baylys Beach

Return To Ripiro Beach

The next morning we drove back to the coast and to the Kai Iwi Lakes, fresh water lakes set in the petrified dunes just inland from the sea. There we waited for the Tasman tide to ebb. It was Vicki's 70th birthday, in New Zealand, and we wanted to return to Riparo Beach as we had done in 2014. We set forth with time to spare, walking the 2k through the pastures, over stiles and electrified fences, up and down DOC staircases, to the ravine that leads to the most deserted beach in NZ, sandstone cliffs for a backdrop, a beautiful little waterfall, and no one and no thing in sight as far as the eye could see. And beyond. Also sunny and warm weather. Definitely a repeat bucket-list destination.

One of the great places we have been

Not without its hurdles

Exactly 100 steps

First view of the beach

Path through the ravine; much improved by new DOC staircases

The little 12 foot waterfall

Looking north

And south

From the surf back to the waterfall

Pano

Not a swimming beach

Coal seam in the cliffs

We left our imprint

On the walk back out, the cattle had placed themselves between us and Rooby

And watched as we approached

I tried everything I could think of..."get along little doggies" "ribeye" "sirloin"
"T-bone"...even "filet mignon"...but at length there was nothing to do but cowboy-
and cowgirl-up and wade into the midst of them

They just followed along; eventually it dawned on us they were expecting us to
open the gate and let them into greener pastures

Nothing doing, bovine-breath

And there we left them

That evening we had pork ribs at the Northern Wairoa Hotel in Dargaville; we'll
always have Dargaville; but especially we'll always have Riparo Beach

Best New Zealand Holiday Park Ever, So Far

After the Waipoua Forest we drove on to old friend Trounson Forest, another DOC preserve that features both Kauris and (allegedly) kiwis. In 2014, we camped there and did the night-time forest walk in search of kiwis, but saw only rats. Lots of rats. In the bathrooms too. I was hoping maybe DOC had renovated Trounson campground in the intervening 4 years, but they hadn't, and, for 9$NZ more, we opted for the Kauri Coast Top 10 Holiday Park, 4k up the road. It was a wise choice. The Kauri Coast Top 10 is smaller than most in this chain, but loaded with amenities, clean, up to date, and, best, landscaped as a New Zealand botanical garden. All NZ holiday parks are pretty good, but this one was exceptional. The Waima and Kaihu rivers nearly encircle the park, and there is a nature trail with glossy pamphlet that takes in the high points. As with other holiday parks and Top 10s, there are powered and non-powered campsites but also a range of other accommodations "to suit every budget." See illustrations.

On the nature walk

River and caves

Surrounded by bush with specimens throughout the park

Biggest and best playground yet

Coming soon to my YouTube channel, a video of a 71 year-old
man riding the zip line

Confluence of the two tube-able rivers

Stepping stones

More bush

Gum tree

Vicki in the 2nd very fully equipped communal kitchen, the
family picnic kitchen

Herb garden

Swimming hole

Small kauri

Cabins

Petanque, too, but of course

Oh, yes, that evening we did the Trouson walk, again, sporting our red-cellophane covered flashlights. We saw lots of bush and kauris by moonlight, and a possum accompanied us for a few hundred feet--whereupon we concluded there were probably no kiwis to be seen that night. Walking back to Rooby I began formulating my theory that the kiwi thing is a vast conspiracy of dog-haters....