2/20–Northland–Kawakawa to Paihia

It only took us a little less than an hour to get to Matapouri from Whangarei.  Now it will take us another hour to drive to Kawakawa, but it will be worth it.  Not only is it on our way, but it is where the famous Hundertwasser’s Toilets are located.  They are even on the map – kid you not!

So, we figure it is worth the stop.  The drive up through the inland mountains is gorgeous. The road is nonstop turns and twists, through farmland and mountainous forests.  There are houses here and there, and little teeny tiny towns, but precious anything else.  Besides cattle that is. Lots and lots of cattle.

We arrive in the little town of Kawakawa and actually find a parking space right on main street – on our side of the street! Sweet success.  One of the attractions here, besides the toilets and the cute old fashioned down town area, is the vintage steam train which runs through the center of town – literally, there are tracks in the middle of the main street – and takes you on a scenic tour in the countryside.

We didn’t get to see the train (darn!) as they are back to only running a Friday, Saturday, Sunday schedule, but we did hit the bathrooms. So, here’s the story:  Friedensreich Hundertwasser, an Austrian architect first visited New Zealand in 1970, then came back and bought a farm outside of Kawakawa in 1975.   He became an NZ citizen in 1986 and was declared a national treasure in 1990.  He apparently was quite a recluse, but when the town commissioned him to build the toilet facility in 1997, he came out of his isolated lifestyle to oversee the project.

Truly?  The place is amazing.  You don’t know if you should go to the bathroom or just take pictures.  As one girl said to me today, this is most pictures I’ve ever taken of a bathroom.  I’m with ya sistah.  But look – here’s why – the ladies room:

Men’s room:

Out back:

Out front:

Amazing.  And the labor and talent used was all local, with tiles made by students from Kawakawa schools, bricks from local buildings and windows constructed from old bottles from around the district.  Really distinct. So definitely worth the pit stop…LOL.

Done with the toilets, we shopped through the Bakehouse, but didn’t find anything we really wanted to accompany our lunch. They had porchetta though – totally surprising, in New Zealand? – and though it was thoroughly tempting, we decided to pass and just hit the road heading now toward the main coast of the Bay of Islands.