Far out, far north
Leigh Bramwell
You can’t be pretentious in the middle of a paddock in Kaeo, says Janit Wade-Ferrell, as she serves up another ‘everyday wonderful breakfast’ at her diner in the far north.
And certainly there’s nothing pretentious about Janit’s Texas Diner, an octagonal timber building rising from the swamp just a few kilometres from the determinedly trendy café town of Kerikeri.
Janit is a woman after my own heart. She makes perfect fried eggs with bacon, hash browns and more toast than even a carboholic can eat, and serves it all on the same plate, complete with jam and a slice of orange. Handy hint – put a piece of buttered toast on top of a slice of orange and the toast will become infused with a delicate orange flavour. Janit has unwittingly devised a taste treat.
If you’re touring the far north, this is the place to start.
Even when the weather is gloomy in the extreme – 32 degrees and damp – the ‘everyday wonderful breakfast’ at $6.50 will put a smile on your face, even without espresso. There’s nothing so stylish here – Janit’s from the States and this is a real American diner where the coffee is filtered and the pepper (white) comes in a shaker, not a grinder.
It’s taken a couple of years for both locals and tourists to get the hang of Janit’s. But if 30 dozen eggs served on New Year’s Day is any indication, they’ve got it now. Tourists are appreciative of large servings and low prices, and an environment (red vinyl bar seats and strata board tables) where children can spill things without ruining a hundred thousand dollar décor job. Locally, it’s attaining cult status, with groups of Bay of Islands trendies organising Saturday and Sunday morning sojourns there. And Janit says people from the nearby multi-million dollar Kauri Cliffs have played on her somewhat bizarre mini golf course.
index.cfm?pageID=13153 is not the sort of place you cruise past for a look. There are large gates and you have to announce yourself to an electronic box for entry.
In complete contrast to the splendour of the golf course development is Matauri Bay, where locals live very simply on the shoreline. The vehicle of choice here is the rusty tractor – handy for launching boats and yanking tourists’ four wheel drives out of the soft sand.
A hop up the road is Mangonui, initially famous for its fish and chip shop and disproportionate number of real estate agencies, now better known for craft shops and cafés. It’s set on a tranquil harbour with picturesque pleasure boats, and there’s always someone fishing from the wharf who’ll tell you good stories about the enormous snapper they caught the other day.
Bridget and Ian Ogle opened the Waterfront Café here 14 months ago and they seem to have been busy ever since. Even on what she terms "the ultimate bad hair day" (90 percent humidity) Bridget manages to remain cheerful in the face of a major lunch crowd. She and Ian have recently extended, and the café has bi-folds opening up to the harbour, a newly opened bar alongside, and seven waterfront motel units.
If the place is crowded, there’s the Slung Anchor just along the road, which boasts a larger outdoor eating area.
In a characterful collection of quaint, colonial buildings you can indulge your taste for bathroom luxury at Laurel’s Soaps and Gifts. Laurel makes soap which looks and smells good enough to eat. The range goes from smooth, sophisticated ovals to those lovely rough chunks with herby things embedded in them. Just next door there’s a bookshop that has a startlingly good selection of magazines. You’ll find titles here which don’t even make it into Magazzino.
There’s also a wonderful gallery and craft shop called the Flax Bush, which carries some of the most innovative and inexpensive jade and paua jewellery in the land. The shop features the work of a number of Far North and Hokianga weavers who seem to be able to make anything from flax, even waistcoats!
The preference for many visitors to Mangonui is to cruise the town, stop at the fish and chip shop at the northern end, and take their newspaper-wrapped packages on to Coopers Beach or Cable Bay and eat their goodies with the traditional accompaniment of tomato sauce and sand.
These curved, east coast beaches are simply the best. The sand is golden, there are lawns and palm trees, the swimming is good, and you can look out to sea and ignore the rather unappealing jumble of pre-fab and kitset houses that adorn the hills behind.
Turn left at Taipa and head inland towards Peria, and there’s a house which bears no relationship whatever to kitsets or to any traditional building, for that matter. It’s the home of local identity Dhaj Sumner, who’s built an extraordinary earth home and garden open to the public by arrangement. The entire project has been the creative pursuit of Dhaj and a number of local artists and every
earth block has a story to tell.
It’s a bit of a hike along a winding road, but in the same valley are the studios of potter Rod Davies, and artist and furniture-maker Cam Wilson, which makes it a worthwhile venture.
On the same road is Swamp Palace, a community hall turned movie theatre in the middle of a paddock and miles from anywhere. Far North locals dine out on tales of this place. Quite apart from showing excellent films, it’s known for the depth of knowledge of the manager, and the friendliness of his dog, who views many of the art house movies for which the palace is famous.
The Karikari Peninsula, back on the east coast, is one of those places people either love or hate. The first few kilometres traverse a flat, scrubby landscape dotted with gorse and thistles and it’s hard to believe there’s anything interesting at the end. But there are some great beaches, and the potential of the area has been recognised by Bill and Judy Haig, who are developing Carrington Farms Golf Club here with an extensive vineyard.
The first nine holes should be playable by April, and the full course is scheduled to open in November. There’s already a clubhouse and café, and work has started on a 10-room lodge, a pro-shop and a number of private, pre-sold duplexes around the course. Judy Haig says the finished complex will have a distinctive New Zealand look and offer mainly Kiwi fare.
It’s the same philosophy at Taharangi Marie Lodge, about 15 minutes down a metal road between Awanui and Ahipara. It would be hard to be anything but Kiwi here on New Zealand’s most famous beach. The lodge is a timber and stone house just steps from the sandhills, with views for almost all of the 90 miles (or seventy something kilometres, for those who prefer accuracy to romance).
This is the life. It feels like a beach house. The front door is open and you can see right through to the sea. Ron Adams, the owner, cooks. He makes no claims to being a trained chef, but his skill with fresh seafood amazes his mostly overseas guests, who marvel at the opportunity to eat something straight from the sea that’s virtually lapping at their feet. Food is usually served on the deck and it feels like there’s nobody else in the world. However, guests who want interaction, or just action, can take quad bike rides on the beach, go kayaking, or try a range of other activities.
A few stonechips further down the metal road, whimsically called Sandhills Road, although you can’t actually see any, is Ahipara, where Ninety Mile Beach curls into a secluded bay with white sand and good surf. There’s something about this place that’s reminiscent of Raglan, but without that hippy funkiness. And there’s not much in the way of facilities, although Kaitaia is so close it hardly matters.
Kaitaia’s got a bit of a buzz on these days. It used to be sleepy and slow, but somebody’s obviously told them about the rural upturn and the increased tourism numbers, so there’s a new energy in the air. There are many, many signs for sandhill and beach adventures on anything from a bus to a horse. An internet café has appeared – a contrast to the local pub whose sign offers Sunday roasts for $7. And off the main street there’s a new-ish steak house with a rustic theme the locals love.
Heading out of town going south is the Mangamuka Gorge which, on a wet day in an underpowered auto, is 13 kilometres of driver’s misery. But even shrouded in mist the bush is beautiful and the tree ferns here are the biggest and the best. There are look-outs here and there and on clear days, one assumes, the views would be spectacular.
There’s not much else between the exit from the gorge and State Highway 10, apart from the town of Okaihau, where they serve extremely generous ice-creams for a dollar. They last until you pass the classy Marsden Estate Winery building just out of Kerikeri – the sign that you’re back in the land of skinny waitresses in Moët pinnies wielding pepper grinders as tall as themselves.
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