Opononi - Omapere - Hokianga Harbour - Northland - New Zealand
Opononi and Omapere are dual settlements on the south shore of the Hokianga harbour in Northland Region, New Zealand. State Highway 12 runs through Opononi and Omapere.
As you approach the seaside settlements of Omapere and Opononi you’ll notice the immense sand dunes of Niua.
Opononi became famous in 1955-56 because of Opo the dolphin. This name was given to a young female bottlenosed dolphin (genus Tursiops) which throughout the summer of 1955–56 frequented the beach at Opononi, Hokianga, inviting repeated human contact and playing with bathers and children in a manner not previously recorded for a wild dolphin since Roman times. Opo could be relied on to appear almost every day, and could be summoned by the sound of an outboard motor, audible to her from a great distance. Certain children, especially, established friendly contact. She permitted stroking and scratching, and even short rides by smaller children. (courtesy of Te Ara)
Opononi and its neighbouring sister Omapere make a great base to discover the Waipoua Forest, New Zealand’s largest kauri rainforest.
A walking track leads to an old signal station on Arai te uru, the south head. Take a boat trip across the harbour to the giant dunes where you can try dune surfing, or take a walk on the beach between Koutu and Kauwhare points on the south shore of the Hokianga Harbour where you will find the Koutu Boulders, one of the Hokianga’s better kept secrets.
Opononi - Omapere - Hokianga Harbour - Northland - New Zealand
Music supplied by Jason Shaw via FMA
Sandtrails Hokianga
An area rich in history and natural beauty. Wide open beaches, mountainous ranges, streams, Kauri forest, sand dunes and amazing sunsets. A place where few tourists have ventured.
Sand boarding hokianga northland nz
This video was uploaded from an Android phone.
Opononi Resort & Hotel, Hokianga, Northland, New Zealand
With magnificent harbour views, situated near the mouth of the Hokianga Harbour and 15 minutes drive from Kauri giant of the forest, Tane Mahuta, the Opononi Resort Hotel is ideally placed for those travellers wishing to explore this beautiful and historic area of Northland.
The hotel has ten harbour-side hotel rooms designer decorated and all with private balconies with sea views.
The Boar & Marlin Restaurant overlooks the harbour and is the perfect for a special meal or just something casual to eat with great service while enjoying spectacular harbour views. The menu is made up of Northlands specialty produce so you can capture the taste of the region in this ambient atmosphere. As well as some of the regions finest wines we also offer many fine New Zealand & international wines.
Opononi Hotel specialise in all group and conference dining options. We can cater for;
Small Group Functions
Weddings
Corporate Groups
Business Meetings
Special Birthdays
Sports Groups
Plus much more...
Enquire with us now and we will be happy to provide you with meal and pricing options to suit your requirements.
Te Wairua O Hokianga-the enduring spirit of Hokianga
Nau mai haere mai. The Hokianga region of Northland is a deeply mysterious and exquisitely beautiful place with a strong spirituality. It has been calling people her for thousands of years. This video is a record of my attempts to explore it and to honour my (tupuna) ancestors. Nga mihi.
Wairere Boulders, Horeke, Hokianga, Northland
A surprise geological find on a farm in Northland is drawing tourists from around the world.
The stunning rock formation at Horeke - the Wairere boulders - lay hidden for more than 100 years until a Swiss couple stumbled across it, thanks to their goat.
Felix and Rita Schaad bought the overgrown land in 1983 on arriving in New Zealand, not knowing it had a hidden secret.
It was four years after they had moved into their remote valley farm when the couple stumbled over the ancient treasure trove, while out catching wild goats with their dog.
Approaching the goat, Rita says they found rocks piled on each other looking like a river of stones.
After discovering their humble home was hiding a geological piece of paradise, it was always their intention to show it off to the world. But their dream was only realised six years ago when the determined couple began building pathways by hand through their jungle oasis.
It is one of the most awesome activities and an exciting adventure to explore this unique Tourism Attraction. The valley, formed by basalt boulders, features an easy walk and tracks and the unique walking possibilities make it an outstanding site of eco-tourism or nature tourism.
We are open every day during daylight hours !!
The length of the basalt rock amassments on the valley floor is 1 1/2 km. There are thousands of boulders stacked on top of each other, some around 30 m high. They look like a stream of rocks and boulders flowing down towards the Hokianga Harbour.
At a first look, everybody thinks the rocks are a limestone formations because of their deep cuts called fluting, but it is actually basalt.
Photo: fluted rocks
The markings on the boulders are called fluting, karst, clints, lapiez or solution pits. Often it is referred to it as pseudocarst Fluting can be the cause by stream and water erosion or by pyroclastic flows. In our case however it is caused by acidity. It is the result of chemical leaching by acids generated by the Kauri forests that used to exist in the area.
Read about the Cause of the Fluting
In the early days of New Zealand settlement, parts of the valley were logged and mainly Rimu (type of timber) was extracted. The river was dammed to flush logs down through the canyon. Some logs from that time are still stuck between rocks, and old stumps can still be found in the bush near the upper part of the boulder area.
Log from logging time of early settlers stuck between rocks
The site of the saw mill (the first water driven mill in New Zealand owned by William Webster is still to be seen. New Zealand's first steam mill, imported as well by William Webster was initially built at the Hokianga Heads but later moved to Wairere. Remnants of the loading facilities to ship timber down the Wairere river to the Hokianga Harbour are still to be seen.
In the early days there was a complete village, called Wairere, on the left valley side. It is to be found on older maps and was mainly for housing of timber mill workers. Some of the locations of dwellings can still be detected and some bits and pieces of old china prove that there were people living here in the early settlers' days. The first written report about the boulders, we are aware of, is in the Maori Journal, written by John Webster, the younger brother of William Webster.
Later the interest in the valley faded. We know that on the bottom end there was some livestock farming to produce cream at the beginning of last century and in 1946 the old milking shed on the right valley side was abandoned. A new milking shed was then erected on the left valley side. The old cottage was transformed into a hay barn, but we later restored it to its original beauty. (For more detail see the Schaad Homepage)
When we (Rita & Felix) purchased the valley in 1983, nobody had an interest in the area. It was considered to be too tough to live in that valley and neither livestock farming nor growing timber seemed to be a valuable option.
Hokianga Timelapse
Timelapse images and stills from the Hokianga region, including Koutu Boulders.
Welcome to our home Waiotemarama Hokianga Aoteroa NZ
This video is about the strong Rimu tree that stands over our unique house and setting. New Zealand beauty
Hokianga Dogs
After coming home, I go and let the dogs out of their run. They are happy! They're impatient for 'dog's dinner' now.
HOKIANGA WILD WEST FESTIVAL
Produced with CyberLink PowerDirector 9
Hokianga madness
Sand boarding
Driving the Pouto lighthouse from the beach
Dash cam/drivers perspective ie Iphone footage, of what it's like to drive up to the lighthouse at Poutu point. Shakey voice is from the vibrations against the sand. It is a must do challenge for any trip down the beach. Luckily I made it up first time, but the following attempts were not so successful.
Campaign against Statoil exploration in the Hokianga
The Minister of Energy and Resources Simon Bridges was welcomed by protestors in the north today. The locals are opposed to oil and gas exploration in the Hokianga Harbour for fear of harming the environment.
Science on the Hokianga
Today we visited the Hokianga in the northern part of New Zealand. The aim was to sample an ancient swamp preserved amongst the sand dunes. Importantly, this area is also the birthplace of Maori New Zealand and continues to have huge cultural significance. Working with the local community we crossed the Hokianga and made good time climbing a ridiculously steep slope. Far up a gorge, we found the metre thick deposit eroding out from the dunes. Wood and swamp muds preserve a record of what this majestic part of the world must have looked like tens of thousands of years ago. We collected some samples for analysis back in the lab, including for radiocarbon dating which will give us an age on when the swamp was formed; I'll post the age when the numbers come through from the University of Waikato.
An absolutely stunning day in an incredibly special part of the world.
Golden Stairs Walk - Whangape Harbour to Mitimiti Beach @ Northland, New Zealand
This is definitely one of the most amazing day walks in Northland (if not one of the most iconic in NZ) - Huge fiord-like deep sound of a long narrow harbour valley cutting its way through to the pounding Tasman sea. This links to the remote and secrete northern most part of the wild Mitimiti Beach. 3 hours of walk on ridge one way from Pawarenga end of the Whangape Haroubr at low tide, and then another 1-2 hours scroll on beach towards Mitimiti to meet our most wonderful hosts Jill and Tiny (they dropped us off at Pawarenga earlier and picked up from north end of Mitimiti beach).
The name Golden Stairs Walk comes from the blaze of Kowhai flower display in the valley in Spring time - it looks like god painted the mountains with gold splashes!! The view is something you have never seen before - jaw dropping!
The best place to stay is of course at Jill and Tiny's cottage at Panguru, north Hokianga Harbour: Their place is absolutely straight from a Tourism New Zealand brochure and they are the most wonderful people you will ever meet!
PS - 4WD is considered most appropriate way of getting to the cottage as there is a ford in the middle of their driveway - a classic kiwiana that gold can't buy!!! There is a beautiful waterfall in their backyard forest (part of Warawara Forest) which takes hours of fun to explore.
NZ: Northland - Episode 1
Northern New Zealand is an iconic and mysterious region. Known to the locals as Northland. Northland is a collective mix of old and new, yet has never forgotten where they came from. Its a different look at New Zealand than focusing on beaches, country, sand dunes, and lush forests instead of the usual rolling hills and majestic mountain passes. Enjoy episode 1 of this 5 part series.
FOR SALE - Top NZ Land Investment, Northland
FOR SALE
120 hectares situated on the picuturesque Hokianga Harbour. Potentially high incomes. In 4 titles, established, managed forestry as well as unpruned Lots planted in 1994 to 1996. Some lovely pockets of native bush. Good road frontage along the harbour front. Asking Price $1,100,000 + GST.
60% -65% of the purchase price available on first mortgage fixed at 6% for 6 years. Carbon credits can be claimed post 2012.
Contact David Solnik
0064 27 482 0668
moonwalk1986@yahoo.co.nz
Mitimiti
Mitimiti is a very small settlement on the West Coast of the North Island. Birthplace of Ralph Hotere the New Zealand artist, Mitimiti is place of great beauty, grace and solitude. I visited in 2011 and captured these images crossing the Hokianga Harbour from Rawene and the trip out through Panguru to the end of the road and the never ending beach.