Clouded

We set off from our idyllic seaside spot this morning into the Northland pastures new, clouded over and drizzling. As we drove, it thankfully began to clear up a little, so we were not forced to listen to the dreary whine of the windscreen wipers scrape across the glass.
We drove back though Whangerai, onwards towards Whangerai Falls. Here, we stopped for elevenses (alas, no more butter, we had dry fruit bread!) and took a walk down into the rainforest to have a gander at the Falls. These were brilliant, a full 27m drop of water, curtaining a basalt lava flow from some good while ago. The basalt had formed into 6-sided columns under the eroding effect of the water and vibrant green moss grew over the whole, adding to the 'depth-of-the-rainforest' vibe. We continued onwards, through the thickly growing trees, their roots twisted and curled upwards and over the soil. Ferns twirled and exotic sounding birds chirped. It was like being in a room with a 'rainforest sounds' CD. The water, after being churned by the falls had turned an odd, milky blueish tone and was slowly creeping on over rocks and pebbles in the way. The odd duck turned up and we spent some time trying to capture the antics of a wagtail on camera. It was oddly disturbing, the river water, reminding me of descriptions of the river Styx in Greek mythology. Never a good sign to feel as if you are heading deeper into the Underworld...However, passing out from under the trees, we found ourselves in a Springtime meadow, complete with daisies, buttercups and dandelions as well as cow parsley and tall grasses. We walked on for a while, in the sunshine that was valiently attempting to break the cloud cover, then returned (uphill) to the car.
We drove on, leaving Whangerai and continuing Northwards. We stopped in Kawakawa to see the Hundertwasser toilets, a bizarre tourist attraction centred around an artist (Hundertwasser) who had lived in Kawakawa for the majority of his life and left a legacy of crazily decorated toilets. These were awesome, made up of broken tiles and handcrafted sculpture tiles, with inlaid bottles and pottery urn columns. It was very colourful and cool, the tiles melding into the ground in a curve and the whole thing vaguely reminiscent of Moroccan art work, with a twist.
We left Kawakawa with cookies in our hands (and soon our stomachs) and continued onwards. We reached Paihia, a destination we had long been looking forward to despite its tourist status focusing on cruise ships. Paihia was beautiful - long stretches of golden sand, calm inlets and islands covered in forest just out in the bay. These were the Porr Knights islands and are apparently excellent for diving. We parked up and took a wander round, exploring an arts market that happened to be showing its wares on the green in front of the ocean that day and also sitting for a while on the beach, enjoying the sunshine which had finally turned up.
Once the sunshine disappeared once again and the clouds came back in force, we left Paihia. The air in Northland is very humid, hot and sticky, which is at odds with its grey skies. We headed on to Hokianga, in the hopes that the weather might yet clear and we would be rewarded with good weather at one of the most spectacular sunset viewing areas in New Zealand. As such, we are parked up in Hokianga now, poised with a view over the entire harbour. Sunset is at about 8.15, so we have just had dinner and are settling down to do some constructive portfolio work before the possibility of a decent sunset occurs. The sky cannot seem to quite decide what it is doing, being oddly blue one moment and misty grey the next. Anything could happen. We shall see!