Tag Archives: puhoi

Day 9 – Feels like holidays

Our night found an abrupt end as the alarm clock went off on Flo’s mobile phone. For once, it was switched on overnight and thus reliably woke us at 6.30am.

Lucky chance that the alarm woke us up

Lucky chance that the alarm woke us up

Instead of going right back to sleep, I had a look outside. The sun was just about to rise so we scrambled out, right onto the beach and watched the sunset for the first time on this trip.

After an extended breakfast with sunshine and wifi, we only had a short ride into the Puhoi Valley. Another couple on the campground had recommended the cheese factory there. And yes, it was worth the stop. They even make their own ice cream and won several prizes for it. It was absolutely d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. I could have rolled around in the chocolate ice cream.  🙂

The effect of the award winning Puhoi ice cream on the commen Homus Ninasiensis

The effect of the award winning Puhoi ice cream on the commen Homus Ninasiensis

We also bought three different cheeses for the road as they all looked so good. If you happen to pass Puhoi, I can thoroughly recommend it as well. They offer a deal for visitors (who are not on a budget): Grab one of the picnic baskets with a blanket, fill it with cheeses, crackers and chutneys, order drinks from the café and then just go outside to the picnic area and enjoy the food and sunshine. That sounds amazing.

We continued our way up north towards Whangarei. On one of these windy little roads, Flo spotted a shop with the name “Signs and motorbikes”, so he turned around and we had a look. It is exactly what it says: A shop for everything sign-related that you might want for a motorbike and also a workshop. After having a short tour around and talking to the owner, we order another world map for our panier as our improvised sticker already started to peel off. New Zealand and Australia have already disappeared from the map.

Mangawhai Heads and the sand dunes there were the perfect spot for a cheesy lunch break before continuing to Whangarei. We went shopping for dinner and breakfast and headed to Otamure Bay to a DOC campsite. This one is rather well maintained and there were even managers around to hand us a whole sheet full of instructions.

Nevertheless, it is a spot right at the beach again. We saw a bit of the sunset and Flo even jumped into the ocean briefly. I had no intention of doing the same. At all.

A rather healthy salad dinner with fried salmon for Flo ended this day quite nicely. We still have Puhoi Fejioa yoghurt for tomorrow though. Sounds so yummy.