Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
land. Three baches (sleeping six to eight) are available for rent and there's room for
campervans ($6 per person).
WORTH A TRIP
TE HANA TE AO MARAMA
You'll see the terraces of a lot of historic pa(fortified village) sites etched into hill-
sides all around NZ, but if you want to get an idea of how these fortified villages ac-
tually looked, take a guided tour of the re-created paat
Te Hana Te Ao Marama
(
www.tehana.co.nz
;
307-308 SH1, Te Hana)
. Tours leave on the hour from 10am to 3pm
daily (adult/child $25/13). The daytime tours can be combined with a powhiri
(formal welcome) on to the very real maraenext door, with some packages includ-
ing a meal and a cultural concert.
For the most atmospheric experience, take one of the Friday night Starlight
Tours(adult/child $100/50, bus from Auckland $25 extra), where you'll be on the
receiving end of a powhiri,have a meal within the maraecomplex and then proceed
into the dramatically lit village for a guided tour and concert.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Warkworth
POP 3300
River-hugging Warkworth makes a pleasant pit stop, its dinky main street retaining a vil-
lage atmosphere.
Sights
Dome Forest
FOREST
(SH1)
Two kilometres north of Warkworth, a track leads through this regenerating forest
to the Dome summit (336m). On a fine day you can see the Sky Tower from a lookout
near the top. The summit walk takes about 1½ hours return, or you can continue for a
gruelling seven-hour one-way tramp through the Totora Peak Scenic Reserve, exiting on
Govan Wilson Rd.
Sheepworld
FARM
(
www.sheepworldfarm.co.nz
;
SH1; adult/child $15/8, incl show $28/10; 9am-5pm)
This agri-
cultural attraction offers farm experiences for little city slickers (pony rides, lamb feed-
