Tapora & Big Sand Island

Continuing on with my Northland blogs from February, 2019

From Port Albert we headed further west to our next destination. Over hills and down dales, along dusty back country roads & weaving past tinder dry farmland through the Rodney District...

 ...until we finally reached our next camp site, Te Puni Campground at Tapora. Tapora is a small settlement at the top of the Okahukura Peninsula a large body of land that juts out into the Kaipara Harbour separating the north from the south branches of the harbour. The top of the peninsula sits right in the centre of the harbour entrance & acts as a natural barrier to incoming weather events.

The campground, which is right beside the Tapora Golf Club, is owned and run by a local farming couple who were excellent hosts. There are cabins available & a great amenities building with lovely sheltered deck for sitting on. We found a level spot on the undulating ground where the powered sites were located watched on by a curious herd of cows. 

We had come to Tapora to do some bird spotting on Big Sand Island (more on that later) and when our host heard this he was quick to point out that he often spooked Bittern/Matuku-Hurepo as he moved about the farm & the golf course. 

David checking to see where the flushed bittern was feeding

Bittern are extremely cryptic (camouflaged) and rarely seen. We have seen several on our travels, most of them have been flushed out of their cover by us being clumsy & not knowing they were about & we also had a couple fly across the road in front of the ute as we've travelled back roads. We've also seen one in freeze mode 'pointing' in a roadside ditch but it was gone by the time we re-traced out tracks. Now we were keen to see if we could finally find a bittern in a wetland up close. We thought we'd try the golf course first.

And sure enough we found one. And once again we were clumsy! We'd only just crept along the fence line down to the swamp when a bittern flew out without warning, right in front of us on the edge of the reeds where it must have been foraging. Bugger. Although luckily I had my camera ready to go but unluckily I didn't have it focused for a bird in flight.

The next day we crept to the top of the hill & lay on our bellies with binoculars scanning the wetland below but I thought we'd probably spooked yesterday's bird & it had gone deeper into the swamp or flown to one of the other wet areas on the course. I left David and moved onto a smaller area I'd seen the previous day.

And as I walked along the fence looking for a place to climb over I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted a bird 'pointing' in the thick reeds. 

I stopped in my tracks and crouched down carefully photographing the bittern as I willed David to come over the hill. It wasn't until I processed the photos that I could see that the bird's eyes were totally fixed on me. Bitterns freeze like this to blend into their surroundings although this one was a little easier to spot against the surrounding green reeds. 

Check the eyes- click on the photo to enlarge

As I cautiously approached it flattened it's chest to the ground and turned it head slightly still keeping one beady eye on me. I stopped and backed off a little hoping to keep it there until David came looking for me.

But then just as I turned my head to check for David it grabbed it's chance to escape. And of course I didn't have my camera ready so once again I have another blurry photo to add to several others. 

And again, it wasn't until I processed the photos, that I spotted that the bird had a really weird leg & foot. It looks like it's missing a foot in the photo above but when you check the photo below, the foot is folded back up the bird's back. Perhaps that's why it sat tight for quite some time. David finally made it over the hill but all I had were photos to show him.

And again the next day we had another look in both areas but didn't manage to flush anymore bitterns. It's back to the drawing board.  

We walked around the course checking out a few other wet areas but the bitterns had moved on. After seeing large areas of new avocado orchards further up north we thought this planting beside the golf course was another avocado orchard but once up close I could see that this was in fact a pomegranate orchard. The wind breaks are a tall plant with flowing leaves a bit like bamboo (but it's not) I've seen this plant growing in my sister's garden in Whangarei.

Just up the road from our Tapora camp was the entrance to Big Sand Island/Manukapua & the Manukapua Wildlife Refuge where we were hoping to see some wading birds. 

The island is in fact joined to the peninsula by a large expanse of sand which looks to only be covered in sea water at extremely high or spring tides. The island itself is a series of large sand dunes sparsely covered in dune grasses & scrub, it's front the first barrier at the entrance to the harbour. 

We made it across a sandy track & into the dunes before our progress is stopped by deep soft sand. The last thing we wanted was to get bogged down in the dunes without another soul in sight. I carried on, on foot, following the track over the last few dunes until I reached the spectacular view out the harbour entrance; Pouto Point is on the right, the north side accessed from Dargaville and South Head on the left.

Once I was back at the ute we drove around to the south side of the island across massive expanses of solid sand. David did a bit of bird spotting but with the tide well out it was pretty hard to see any waders.

Our host also sent us up another access track across his farm to the north side of the harbour just east of Big Sand Island, to the Okahukura Conservation area. 

This section was prime real estate for many of our less well known & rarely seen birds such as Marsh Crakes, Spotted Crakes, Banded Rail & Fernbirds along with Bitterns. 

We hadn't planned our visit to Tapora too well, the tide didn't suit here either and we also did our walks during the heat of the day. I think a dedicated bird spotting trip would need to planned to have any luck, and it would be best early morning. Still it was a great day for a walk.

I had to zoom in on this 'dinosaur' and take a photo to identify it, it certainly looked like a boat hull from our location, hundreds of metres away. And there are all the waders in front of it. 

We had one more place to check out, the aptly named Birds Beach on another point of the peninsula but we'd lost a bit of our enthusiasm in the intense summer heat so instead we parked on the foreshore and had lunch sitting on the tailgate in as much shade as we could find while watching holidaying locals carry buckets of cockles back from the mud flats. 

I can't quite decide if this would be a cool address to have or not.....

With our bird spotting adventures over I did a little exploring back up the road to the top of the hills behind Tapora. This is looking back towards the Kaipara Harbour entrance with the two points on the horizon.

I had also planned to add another church to my photo collection, the very picturesque Minniesdale Chapel which is not far off the main road but not suitable for a 14metre rig to drive down to, so I had to shoot it before we left the area. 

The tiny & cute Minniesdale Chapel has been open since 1867 & in continuous use ever since.

Many of the early Albertland settlers are buried in the old cemetery beside the church. One of the headstones looks to be wooden with a huge crack through it & the base rotting away. I've not come across a wooden headstone before so I hope it doesn't disappear altogether. No wait there was one, Somebody's Darling headstone at the Lonely Graves but it was inside a protective case. And I wonder what a headstone is called when it's wood? A headwood? I don't think so. 

I also drove into the Atiu Creek Regional Park, one of the many fabulous parks located around the outer Auckland area and run by the Auckland Council. 

The park is a working farm but also includes many walking tracks, mountain bike & horse trails and a couple of camp sites although the top carpark is the only one for RVs. Unfortunately I didn't have time to explore any of the tracks but it's a place I'd like to return to one day.

I was sad to find dozens of dead stick insects on the concrete path beside the toilet block. I suspect that the building had recently been sprayed for spiders & these were unfortunate victims too. I collected them all up and buried them under a pile of leaves.

Back on the road and on our way further south it was a surprise to round a corner in the highway & see a famous sculpture off in the distance. A quick snap through the window was all I managed...

Little did I know this was not the last I would see of the Gibbs Sculpture Farm...

Beach Hop South- Blackhead Beach & Turkeys

Real-Time

While staying at Porangahau Beach we did a short tiki-tour north to visit Blackhead Beach and then looped around one of the back roads home again. 

Here's a first for the blog- it's not everyday the lead in photo is of a killing-shed (I think I can safely say it'll be the last time too). This is Porangahau Station's historic killing shed which would have been used to slaughter sheep and cattle for the station's families and as dog tucker. It even has it's own sign pointing across the paddock to it's location. 

I didn't know I had an audience watching my every moo-ve as I took photos of the shed until I turned around. I don't think they see too many people walking up their road with a camera; David had driven off to turn around leaving me to talk to these guys for a minute or two. 

This is the former Porangahau Station homestead which is now called Chapelwick and is a luxury bed & breakfast. 

Set on 18 acres, the estate has beautiful gardens and lawns, mature trees and an orchard, a swimming pool and tennis court along with the historic Station chapel where many weddings are held. And for any NZMCA members reading, Chapelwick is also a CAP (costs apply parking), although it is rather expensive at $20 per night. There I go, it's not THAT expensive but in the scheme of things when you're paying $5 or it's free elsewhere, it seems expensive. On the plus side, you can play tennis, swim in the pool, and walk around the beautiful gardens like you own the place! 

Chapelwick also holds regular events in it's grounds over summer; old English garden parties, garden fetes and craft stalls. 

With not much more to see other than farm stations and woolsheds along the road to Blackhead Beach I managed to convince David to stop for a couple of woolshed shots.

Blackhead Beach has a small settlement of baches and holiday houses at the south end of the beach.

They are reached by crossing a small bridge which I'm sure gives the owners a sense of security. It's like entering a 'gated' community, there;s sure to be a few pairs of eyes watching anyone crossing the bridge- a bit like Billy Goat Gruff- 'who's that tripping on my bridge?'

Blackhead Station woolshed takes pride of place in the middle of the bay...

...and along with a few more houses, the Blackhead Campground and reserve is at the north end where there's also public loos and picnic tables. There is quite a deep ford and a sharp turn into the camp which would mean camping here is out for us, we wouldn't be able to get the 5th-wheeler through the ford.

It's a small campground with a number of permanent caravans on site but with plenty of green space at the rear to park motorhomes and mobile caravans. The weather deteriorated just after we arrived and the rain started just as I laid lunch out on one of the picnic tables. We quickly gathered it together and drove to the top of the reserve and backed in underneath one of the large macrocarpa trees and had lunch sitting on the tailgate. We finished just as the first few big fat drops of rain found their way through the branches.

Blackhead Beach is at the southern end of the Te Angiangi Marine Reserve, and Aramoana is at the northern end of the reserve. You'll remember we missed getting to Aramoana because of the muck-up with Pourerere. There's just 2-3 kms of coastline between the two beaches, and yet by road it's about 40kms (on a rough gravel road) or about 80kms if you go via Waipukurau.

The reserve includes a large area of inter-tidal platforms- perfect for exploring at low tide, a boulder bank and a very sheltered bay ideal to people to learn to snorkel. We were going to walk up to Aramoana, well in fact we were going to drive the beach up to Aramoana but David decided that salt laden wet sand and a clean ute weren't going to work. And by the time we arrived the tide was on it's way back in, and it had started to rain. So we gave it a miss and put it on the 'low priority, must do sometime list' 

And if we do make it back, I've decided I want to check the reserve out in comfort & style. David can hook this up to the ute and I can invite a few others along for the ride!

After lunch we made our way back up Blackhead Road and rejoined the loop. I'd seen this woolshed on the way in when I made a mental note to stop and take its photo on the way out.

It was an added bonus to come around the corner and find a flock of turkeys (aka as a rafter or gang) wandering down the middle of the road in front of the shed. Of course when they saw us they took off, running down the fenceline while the dominant male (known as a Tom or a Gobbler) flew off into the middle of the paddock and set about remonstrating with them for not following suit. Some protector he turned out to be.

You wouldn't believe how many turkeys we've seen as we've made our way south along the coast through the lowland farms and stations. Dozens of flocks both large and small, although most seem to have around 10-12 birds. Many were feeding on the roadside and took off as soon as we approached. Others were hanging out around the yards and woolsheds like this group.

Once back on the Porangahau Road we took a short detour to Wallingford Station (Wallingford Homestead is another POP(park over property) where NZMCA members can park for free as long as they purchase a 2 course dinner and a tour around the historic homestead and gardens! Surely that's a CAP(costs apply parking) and an expensive one at that....there I go again!) Anyway, we pulled into Wallingford's woolshed drive but the shed was hidden. Then a movement in the trees caught my eye and...

...there in the trees on both sides of a fence were about three dozen turkeys- strutting, flapping, eating and gobbling! 

I have never looked at turkeys in great detail, they have always been a strange looking bird but, really, these guys take the cake. 

They- well, the males anyway- are the most peculiar looking bird I think I've ever seen. It would seem that there is more than one dominant male in this group. Either that or there's a power struggle going on.

There were a number of  younger males, known as Jakes, in the group and they seem to keeping close to the hens, not challenging the older males but keeping in sweet with them and keeping an eye on the harem. Just close enough to dive in when the Toms were otherwise occupied, I'm thinking. 

Most of the males were strutting their stuff- gobbling calls bouncing off the trees, bright red or pasty pink wattles wobbling on their throats, tails fanned, wings fluffed and down- challenging each other to a dance off- a type of synchronized waltz, they strutted forward and back, up and down, turning and pirouetting around each other. 

I can now see why Native American Indians had turkey feather headgear; they had a ready made fan.

Nature sure is a wonderful thing, but sometimes you've got to wonder if it got things a little wrong- I'm sure his mother loved him.

This very large swamp was right next door to the turkeys- you can now see the Wallingford Woolshed at the back on the right. A huge waterway teeming with birdlife and frogs! I opened the door and the sound of a thousand frogs filled the air. I gave a shout and it went deadly quiet. But not for long. I'm glad we're not parked beside this lot.

At regular intervals throughout the pond were a dozen or so large mounds of reeds and grasses and on top of each of them sat a black swan, incubating her eggs and patiently awaiting the arrival of her fluffy little bundles. We spend 10 minutes or so scanning the pond to see if there might be something unusual out there, but no it was just the usual suspects.

And just across the Porangahau River, not far from home I finished our day with a shot of this 'rustic' woolshed that is on it's last legs.