Days 22–24: Castlepoint & Cape Palliser
Two lighthouses and a lot of seals
We’ve had a few longer drives in the past few days. Taupo to Napier was long, Napier to Castlepoint was long, and Castlepoint to Cape Palliser was long — Cape Palliser to Wellington will be a good couple of hours too. The weather has also taken a turn for the worst so we haven’t complained too much about being in the van a lot. Despite all of this, we still managed to stop and see a few things along the way.
To break up the journey from Napier to Castlepoint, we stopped for the night at a peaceful riverside campsite called Mangatainoka Reserve. It was right next to the Tui Brewery — home of the famous New Zealand beer. It was windy and rainy when we were cooking so we made a makeshift shelter using tarp and hairbands. Besides that, it made for a great place to stop.
After a rainy night next to the Tui Brewery, we drove on down to Castlepoint. The weather still wasn’t great so going for a dip was off the table, but we still explored the headland and walked up to the lighthouse.
I think all of the hikes we’ve been doing have had an effect on Anna as she was less like the Anna that took her time on a simple staircase in Asia and more like a mountain goat as we wandered around the reef.
We had lunch back at the van and then hit the road once more. We stopped briefly at Henley Lake en-route because, from the road, it looked like it contained the most ducks and black swans we’d ever seen in one place — and we were right.
I reckon there were at least a hundred black swans there as well as even more ducks. They’re maybe not the most interesting animals we’ve seen on our travels, but there’s something that I love about watching ducks waddle around.
With our curiosity satiated, we made the final leg of the journey down to the campsite in Ngawi, just next to Cape Palliser. The coastal road down to the Cape was very cool, and it reminded me of the James Bond-style scenes where he drives the winding roads with a cliff on either side — one going down to the sea and the other going up.
We had three reasons for heading to the Cape: the lighthouse, the scenery, and the seal colony. We arrived in the afternoon and the forecast for the following day gave a 100% chance of rain, so we decided to use the rest of the afternoon to try and fit everything in just in case the day after was a write-off.
The first of the three that we came across was the seals — to be fair the scenery was probably the first because it was all around us but the better views come later. We pulled up in a small reserve and it didn’t take us long to spot them.
They camouflaged so well with the rocks that we missed a lot of them at first until we looked for longer and began noticing more and more.
We spent a good while watching them and laughing at the funny way they splayed themselves out on the rocks. The breeding season can’t have been that long ago either because we saw plenty of adorable pups.
There were so many that it was tough to decide where to point the camera.
As much as we wanted to stay and watch them for longer, time was pressing on which meant we had to as well. The coastal road eventually leads to a dead-end for the general public, and this is where the lighthouse is. You can enjoy it from down at sea-level or you can tackle the 252 steps that lead up to it if you want a closer look.
I started off running up them, but this soon turned into a less-than-walk about three-quarters of the way up as I tried not to keel over and die. Anna took the more sensible slow-and-steady approach.
The views of the coastline from up this high were incredible, particularly with the late-evening sun filtering through the clouds.
And of course, we got to see the lighthouse up close as well. As usual, I placed an Anna in front of it as a size reference.
With all three items ticked off, we made camp for the night and thanked the weather gods for keeping the rain away for the evening.
I was all set to film an epic sunset but the clouds came along and ruined it slightly. Still, having gone to the effort of filming it, here it is anyway…
The heavens opened that night and it tipped it down all night and most of the next day, so we made the right decision to get all of the sightseeing done the day before.
Despite the terrible weather, Anna’s tea addiction prevailed and she braved the wind and rain to boil up a brew.
With Cape Palliser done, we were coming towards the end of our tour of the North Island. The only stop we have left is right back where it all began in good old Wellington. More on that soon.
