If the Far North is laid back with its own slow pace of doing things, the Hokianga is the same but more so. Things were different a century ago; with timber mills operating on both sides of the harbour in the early 1900s, it used to be a noisy industrial centre, but when the supply of trees was exhausted the area slipped into the quiet haven it is today.
Kohukohu, at one end of the ferry crossing and Rawene at the other, both offer the visitor a pleasant day out. There are other settlements on the harbour – notably Horeke, where the second signing of the Treaty of Waitangi was completed just a few days after the first, and Ōpononi, made famous in the 1950s when a friendly dolphin appeared regularly on the beach – but it’s the ferry link between Kohukohu and Rawene that I love.
Crossing the Hokianga Harbour gives me a bit of a thrill. There’s something exciting about watching the ferry leave the other side and quietly churn over the water before crunching up the slipway, letting down its ramp and inviting me aboard. I love it. The water sparkles, the gulls cry and the fresh air revitalises me.
It’s a quick
