Northland Trip - Stage Six

After hitting the cape, it was time to head south in order to meet up with family in Auckland for Christmas. Since I still had a wee bit of time up my sleeve, I thought I'd do a bit of the second leg of the trip, by exploring the very top of the west coast. This meant a quick trip out through forestry to see Ninety Mile Beach, a quick decision of "not much too see" and then voyaging out past Awanui towards Herekino. There, I was faced with the road south, which curved off to the left, or the road with no sign straight through "town" (i.e. past the pub, and avoiding the kids playing in the road).

I didn't actually know where I was headed, but this is where I ended up
I found myself surrounded by small churches
I don't *think* this is the same one
In all, I'd say there were four or five, all in the same area (which turned out to be Whangape, when I finally found a map). I am still not entirely sure where this is
It was another inlet, nearer to Herekino, off to the left (north west) as I approached Herekino. Heading south on the main road to Broadwood, more churches
After hitting the #1 highway, it was a quick trip to Whangarei, except that I became disturbed by the fact that several petrol stations, starting at Ohaewai, had fallen into disuse. After Kawakawa, you have this one, just out of town
and then the one at the Ruapekapeka turn-off
the one at Towaiand finally at Hukerenui
This is of little moment to the passing motorist, who can simply think ahead, but the farming communities around these service stations will now need to go to Kawakawa or as far south as Whakapara just to get petrol.

By the time I hit Whangarei, I'd had enough of beaches, so for something different, I caught up with some old acquaintances
and went in to explore the new library
This is just a random nearby tree, very pretty!