Bay of Islands & Northland - New Zealand - page 174

Waitangi Day CULTURE
Various ceremonial events at Waitangi on 6 February.

Country Rock Festival MUSIC
( www.country-rock.co.nz ; festival pass $50) Second weekend in May.

Russell Birdman LUNACY
( www.russellbirdman.co.nz ) Lunatics with various flying contraptions jump off wharf into
frigid (July) waters.

Jazz & Blues Festival MUSIC
( www.jazz-blues.co.nz ; festival pass $50) Second weekend in August.

Weekend Coastal Classic SPORTS
( www.coastalclassic.co.nz ) NZ's largest yacht race, from Auckland to the Bay of Islands,
held on Labour Weekend in October.

Bay of Islands Food
& Wine Festival FOOD, WINE
( www.paihianz.co.nz/it_festival ; adult/child $45/15; 11am-6pm) Food, wine and local music

in Paihia on the last Saturday of October.

WORTH A TRIP
HOLD ON UNTIL KAWAKAWA

Kawakawa is just an ordinary Kiwi town, located on SH1 south of Paihia, but the
public toilets (60 Gillies St) are anything but. They were designed by Austrian-born
artist and eco-architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who lived near Kawakawa in
an isolated house without electricity from 1973 until his death in 2000. The most
photographed toilets in NZ are typical Hundertwasser - lots of organic wavy lines
decorated with ceramic mosaics and brightly coloured bottles, and with grass and
plants on the roof. Other examples of his work can be seen in Vienna and Osaka.
Kawakawa also has a railway line running down the main street. Take a
45-minute spin pulled by Gabriel the Steam Engine ( 021 171 2697;

www.bayofislandsvintagerailway.org.nz ; adult/child $20/5; 10.45am, noon, 1.15pm, 2.30pm Fri-Sun,

daily school holidays) .
South of town, a signpost from SH1 points to Kawiti Glowworm Caves ( 09-404

8.30am-4.30pm) . Explore 0583; www.kawiticaves.co.nz / ; 49 Waiomio Rd; adult/child $15/7.50;