Paihia is an oceanside town but with islands and peninsulas everywhere you look, it seems more like a lakeside town. Here area few pictures taken from various areas along the waterfront. At the south end is a long beach, in the middle a grassy area and businesses around the wharf, further north is rocky, then there is another beach in an area of town up and around a corner.
One thing that pops up frequently is these pictures is trees with red blossoms. These are Pohutukawa trees, the subject of a recent blog post. -Cyndi
The view from the beach at the south end of Paihia.Looking at Paihia’s southernmost beach from the ferry.An area of grass and trees by the water.Looking at the wharf.A rocky shore as you get to the north end of town.Looking back at Paihia from an area further north.This is an area just south of Paihia.
The closet town to Opua is Paihia, just five minutes away by car or five thousand minutes away on foot (OK probably 90 minutes on foot but it seemed like a long hike). It’s a pretty little waterfront town, largely geared towards tourists although it’s home for a good number of local residents and remains vibrant even in the off-season. It’s just extra vibrant in the summer, and extra-extra vibrant when the cruise ships come in (and that’s when we try to stay out).
Paihia has shops and restaurants for everyone, small hotels and souvenir shops for the tourists, a grocery store, post office, doctors/dentist, etc. for the locals, and a wharf for the small passenger ferries and tour boats. (The bigger car ferries and tour boats operate from the wharf at Opua.) It is definitely the main tourist town for the Bay of Islands and where people stay when they come to visit the Bay of Islands.
We liked Paihia but spent most of our “town time” in the larger Kerikeri further north. Still, it’s a very pretty town to walk around in, and it did have a couple of things Kerikeri didn’t have. One of those was a good place for fish and chips; the other was our beloved Movenpick for ice cream (which will be one of the subjects of an upcoming blog). -Cyndi
This is a waterfront walkway and beach at the south entry to Paihia.Driving into the main part of Paihia.The main shopping street in Paihia.The shopping promenade behind the main street.The waterfront shops, restaurant and tourist information centers behind the wharf.The waterfront behind the wharf.The wharf.
We were still new to the area and adjusting to life on solid ground after just arriving from Tonga when our friends Gloria and Brad on Kindred Spirit invited us to the Sunday Roast at Ake Ake. We didn’t know what any of that meant, but since it seemed to involve food and wine we were in!
Basically a Sunday Roast is British/New Zealand tradition, and some of the restaurants here like to serve them. Generally there is roast beef or pork, potatoes, gravy, Yorkshire pudding and vegetable side dishes. Ake Ake is one of the local vineyards that happens to have a fine restaurant. If you do their Sunday Roast, wine tastings are included and done beforehand, then you can have a glass of your favorite wine with your meal.
The vineyard was up near Kerikeri, about 30 minutes from Opua, and this was our first time seeing some the New Zealand countryside. We were amazed and enchanted by how beautiful it was, and I rushed to dig out our camera and get lots of (admittedly terrible) pictures from the back seat of the car.
We pulled into the vineyard restaurant and were first led to our table in a beautiful deck area next to the vineyards so we could decide which roast to order. Then it was off to the tasting room where we sampled several wonderful wines while our food was prepared. Of course we could not resist buying a bottle or two of their wonderful chardonnay! We then headed back to our table to enjoy our chosen wine with our Sunday roast.
Sitting there with a view of the grapevines in the light of the late afternoon sun, eating alfresco with friends and enjoying fantastic food and incredible wine was the stuff that Napa Valley dreams are made of. It turns out there are many such places in New Zealand, but Ake Ake is easily among the best. -Cyndi
Brad and Gloria try to decide which wines were their favorites.Rich had already decided which wine he liked best. (“OK, now where’s my food!” -Rich)Us, enjoying wine with our amazing Sunday Roast at Ake Ake Vineyard.
Save some pretty for other countries! This is tonight’s sunset. OK, sorry, more Microsoft ICE photo-stitching stuff, but it was pretty 360 degrees and I couldn’t help myself. -Rich
The first month of our stay here in Opua we made a few visits to the local yacht club/bar called the Opua Cruising Club. It sits over the water and has a terrific view of the bay area outside Opua. We enjoyed some some nice dinners here: their cook is Indonesian and makes some yummy Indonesian dishes. My favorite was the Nasi Goreng, the Indonesian version of fried rice with meat or seafood, egg and vegetables, made with a sweet soy sauce. They also had the usual fare such burgers, sandwiches, steaks, fish and chips, etc. And of course they had a bar with icy mugs of beer.
In early January, we had to make a choice: join or quit going. Their rules are ambiguous and not tightly adhered to as you are allowed in as a guest only three times, but they generally let that slide to an extent. Still, the time finally comes to make a decision. It’s not that expensive to join, but we opted not to. It was fun in the early days as it was full of cruisers we knew from the fleet, but by mid-January they had pretty much dispersed and the party was over. Still, it was fun while it lasted, and I will miss that Indonesian food. -Cyndi
The Opua Cruising Club from the outsideThere is a terrific view from the deck of the Opua Cruising Club.Cold beer on tap.Rich sitting out on the deck with our beer.The dock outside the Opua Cruising Club.Our first visit to the club soon after we arrived when many of the cruising fleet was still there.
