Our first impression of Whangerei was of a bit of a seedy run down place – certainly is in the city centre. However, there’s a lot more to it as we discovered when we went up the lookout. It’s a big deep river with a huge harbour and lots of industry. The boatbuilding industry is pretty strong, and yachties can get most things fixed here.

The cone mountains in the background are cinder cones from extinct volcanoes.