Near the northern tip of the North Island is Kaitaia, a commercial center for the surrounding area. It is a good base for excursions northward via Waipapakauri and along Ninety Mile Beach to Cape Reinga or westward to the Maori settlement of Ahipara, at the south end of Ninety Mile Beach. The road to Cape Reinga is good all the way, but most car-rental firms prohibit driving along the beach itself.
The population of Kaitaia includes a strikingly high proportion of Maoris, as well as many descendants of 19th C. immigrants from Dalmatia (at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian empire) who made a living as gum diggers.
40km southeast of Kaitaia is the Omahuta Forest Sanctuary, with magnificent kauri trees. The original forest vegetation has largely been preserved and there are also many species of birds.
A road turns off Highway 1 to the south of Mangamuka Bridge and runs for 13km to a parking area from which a footpath goes off into the forest.
In Aupouri Forest, to the north of Kaitaia, efforts are being made to halt the drifting sand and consolidate the dunes by planting pines along the beach.
The Far North Regional Museum has displays on kauri resin. It also has an anchor that the French navigator JM de Surville lost during a storm in Doubtless Bay in 1769.
Address: Far North Regional Museum, South Road, Kaitaia, Northland 0500, New Zealand
Hours:
10am-4pm
Always closed on: Christmas - Christian (December 25), Good Friday - Christian