Magical Moments in Time at Mangonui

Australian journalist Jane Nicholls and her New Zealand-born husband visited Mangonui/Doubtless Bay to “capture the simple magic of childhood holidays” for her own family. Nicholls recalls the time there in a travel feature for The Australian. “This old whaling township has a nationally famous fish and chippery, and a harbour so picture perfect that if you saw it on a postcard you’d assume it had been digitally altered.”

“While it feels far from everywhere, Mangonui has a gentle buzz,” Nicholls says.

“[Our holiday rental host] Richard [Dunbar] has given us a list of his favourite beaches; he recommends we try Puheke … My teenage daughters disappear for a walk and return raving about a tree swing they’ve found hidden in a cove.

“More than a year later, they still talk about that swing [at Puheke]. I ask why, and one volunteers that of all our holidays, finding the swing is her standout memory.

“‘It was the wonder of discovering something you didn’t expect, it felt like an adventure, and we didn’t have our phones with us, so there are no photos … it feels like a magical moment in time.’”

Original article by Jane Nicholls, The Australian, May 8, 2020.