Kerikeri

After leaving the tourist loaded town of Paihia, we headed further north to Kerikeri. Bruce and I planned to have one night at Uncle John’s property, while the two other vans with us planned on a stay at the NZMCA park.

On the way there, Bruce and I visited Haruru Falls, which the others had all been to.

These were not huge falls but still quite picturesque. Fortunately, they were only a short walk from the carpark because as we returned there appeared to be a car pulling in, and possibly up to no good, because as soon as they saw us they turned around and took off.

Bruce and I had a quick look at the town of Kerikeri before heading to my uncle’s place. John has 5 acres on the edge of town, planted with orange trees. Unfortunately, John had fallen onto a fence post a while ago and had cracked a rib, so he wasn’t up to doing anything with the crop, and they were all falling on the ground, going to waste. That worked to our advantage, and we were able to head away the next day with a bag full.

It was wonderful catching up with John. He is a highly intelligent, well informed man, who loved having someone to talk to. We spent a bit of time catching up, but it was all too short really. He took us out for coffee (and breakfast for him and Bruce) the next morning.

He had given Bruce and I a pass for the Art Escape being held in Kerikeri so after breakfast, Bruce and I headed off again. Unfortunately, a lot of the venues were in areas inaccessible to motorhomes so we could not take full advantage of the passes. John had offered us the use of his car, and we should have taken him up on it.

Kerikeri is also the home of the Rainbow Falls, and the walk leading to those falls is just at the back of the NZMCA Park, so it was easy to park there and go for a look.

These falls are more substantial than Haruru Falls, and the walk to them is well done, through lovely bush. The added bonus is that the van was safe while we were there.

Kerikeri is also home to the Stone Store, and the Mission House, two of New Zealands oldest buildings, having been constructed in 1819. The Mission House is one of the first areas where Maori invited Europeans to live alongside them.

The Stone Store is still a store today, selling souvenirs now though, but we went for a wander through it. We would have had a coffee in the cafe that now occupies the old Mission House (Kemp House) but there were too many people there.

Instead we took a wander up to the old church across the road. Unfortunately it was not open, so we couldn’t have a peep inside, but it looked lovely from the outside.

Planted outside the church was a huge old pear tree that was said to be planted by Samuel Marsden on 1819 . It is in full leaf but clearly has had its struggles to survive. I don’t know if it still bears fruit.

Kerikeri seems to be a great little town, albeit not a straight forward one to get around in. However, we will be leaving it with pleasant memories.