Whananaki

Day 237, Sunday 15 April 2018

It was raining steadily in Auckland this morning, so I headed north, and by the time I got to Wellsford the rain had disappeared. I went to the small settlement of Whananaki, which straddles an inlet a little north of Whangarei. Its main claim to fame is that it has the southern hemisphere’s longest pedestrian bridge, which runs across the Whananaki inlet. The bridge is just wide enough for one person, but there are a couple of passing bays. Another claim to fame is that Winston Peters comes from here.

I rode to Whananaki South, which involves 9 km of gravel. It’s easy gravel, but I realised later that going to Whananaki North is on sealed roads and would have been faster and probably at least as scenic.

From the south side, I walked across the bridge and had lunch at the cafe/grocery on the north side. All the facilities are on the north, including a camping ground, a school and a public library.

I love these little coastal communities. Sometime I’d like to bring my adventure bike up here and explore the gravel roads leading to even more remote communities.

Distance travelled: 409 km. Total distance so far: 30,983 km