Kawhia Harbourby Phillip Capper Flickr Creative Commons
Kawhia Harbour is a drowned river valley system in the Waikato region of New Zealand. Outside the harbour, waves pound on a black sand ocean beach, inside the harbour it is still and tranquil. Kawhia is a small town and is a great place to experience real, laid-back, rural New Zealand.
The area is steeped in Maori history- it is, in legend, the final resting place of the great Waka (ocean-going canoe) Tainui. Two buried stones are placed to mark the bow and stern of the buried waka.
Wakaby Phillip Capper Flickr Creative Commons
A well-kept secret of Kawhia is the dig-your-own natural hot pools on the ocean beach. Only accessible 2 hours either side of low tide, they are more or less straight down from the toilet block at the end of the beach.
To get a good feel for the area and it's history, you can take a harbour cruise on the 66-pax capacity 'Lady Kawhia.' These have a full commentary and take in most of the harbour, from around $50 per adult.
Kawhia's biggest day comes each summer with the Kawhia Kai Festival. Kai is the Maori word for food and this festival celebrates New Zealand's traditional dishes. This is generally the first saturday in February, and is a great event for visitors to experience the native culture and food from land and sea.
Kawhia Camping Ground has power sites available for your campervan, as does Kawhia Beachside S-cape.
For campervan hire in New Zealand, click here!
I have been General Manager of Motorhome Republic, the operators of this website, for 4 years and with the company for 6 years starting as a Sales / Account Manager. Previous roles have included account manager and software architect for a web design firm, advertising sales across multiple media and television production. I’ve been lucky enough to go Motorhoming several times in Canada, USA and New Zealand so far and grew up going on caravanning holidays with Mum and Dad. The value and freedom Motorhoming offers are its two main drawcards for me. That and the envy on the other campers’ faces when you pull into a State Park campground with no hook ups in a 31’ Class C with double slide outs, on board generator, side awning, exterior entertainment unit and smoker unit for a 10kg salmon caught earlier that day.
I have been in the Motorhome industry for the best part of 6 years and with Motorhomes Republic for the last 18 months. I previously worked for the largest Motorhome rental company in the world as the New Zealand Sales Account Manager. I’ve traveled the length and width of New Zealand in many different categories of Motorhomes, in fact I don’t think there is a main state highway I haven’t driven. The love I have for Motorhomes is one of freedom and flexibility, doing what I want when I want. If I have a hankering for a cup of coffee in a beautiful scenic spot simply stop boil and enjoy….
0 comments:
Post a Comment