If you come to Whitianga you’d better want to get wet. The big attractions are the sandy beaches of Mercury Bay and the diving, boating and kayaking opportunities afforded by the craggy limestone coast and nearby Te Whanganui A Hei Marine Reserve. If you’ve a lust for the luxe, a number of upmarket eateries and accommodation options have sprung up, catering to the boatie set who constantly breeze into the pretty harbour. Most of the restaurants are overpriced and not particularly interesting.
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To truly experience this area you have to be prepared to get wet. Beach after clear- watered beach offers munificent opportunities for swimming, surfing or just splashing about. Consequently the hot spots heave with Kiwi holidaymakers at peak times, but even then it’s possible to find isolated stretches of sand where your footprints are the only ones.
On the pretty-to-ugly continuum Whangarei sits somewhere in the middle. But beauty is never far away and there are plenty of attractive natural and artistic things to keep you distracted in Northland’s gateway. You may be pleasantly surprised by the interesting choice of eateries and the general ‘going off’-ness of the bars on a Saturday night. The city centre has an inordinate number of hairdressers and parking lots – although the standard of coiffure or car isn’t noticeably different from the Kiwi average.
If Treasure Beach were any more laid-back it would risk floating off into the sea. With rocky headlands separating lonely, coral-colored sand beaches, the area is noted for its healthy supply of relaxed guesthouses and stylish boutique hotels. The sense of remoteness, easy pace, and graciousness of the local farmers and fisherfolk attract foreign travelers seeking an away-from-it-all, cares-to-the-wind lifestyle. Many have chosen to settle here – much to local pride.
The park has a sprinkling of huts, a lodge and numerous camping grounds. Along the Taumarunui-Pipiriki section are three Category II huts classified as Great Walks Huts during summer and Serviced Huts in the off-season: the Whakahoro Hut at Whakahoro, and the John Coull Hut and Tieke Kainga, which has been revived as a marae. You can stay at Tieke Kainga, but full marae protocol must be observed. On the lower part of the river, Downes Hut is on the west bank, opposite Atene.
While Auckland’s socially ambitious flock to Pauanui, the city’s young and horny head to Whangamata to surf, get stoned and hook up. It can be a raucous spot over New Year, when the population swells to over 40, 000. A true summer holiday town, in the off-season there may as well be tumbleweeds rolling down the main street.
Spanish Town, Jamaica’s capital for more than 300 years, was once considered to boast exemplary town planning. Today, for visitors traveling from Kingston through the city’s blighted outlying ghettoes, it’s somewhat of a stretch to envisage the former capital’s erstwhile grandeur. However, this changes the moment one arrives at the evocative historic center, where you’ll find the Caribbean’s most extensive assortment of Georgian architecture and its greatest cathedral (albeit in a sad state of repair). Few other places in Jamaica bring to life the historic sweep of centuries like Spanish Town.
A true Pohutukawa paradise, the town of Whakatane (fa-ka-ta-ne) sits in a natural harbour at the mouth of the river of the same name. It’s the hub of the Rangitaiki agricultural district, but there’s much more to Whakatane than farming, with blissful beaches and volcanic Whakaari (White Island) for starters.
Untrampled by the lockstep march of the resort-catered hordes, the southern coast serves up an irresistible slice of the unspoiled Jamaica. The area is awash with natural splendor – majestic rivers, lugubrious swamps, gorgeous waterfalls, looming mountains, ominous cliffs and sandy beaches. It’s one of the island’s great ironies that a region so unsullied by mass tourism is so packed with sights and activities.
SH6 along the surf-pounded coastline proffers fine Tasman Sea views; so fine that Lonely Planet’s Blue List dubbed the West Coast highway one of the planet’s 10 best road trips. Fill up in Westport if you’re low on petrol and cash – there’s no fuel until Runanga, 92km away, and the next ATM is in Greymouth. The main attractions along this stretch are the geologically fascinating Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. To break the journey, consider the following.