Found Gill easy to communicate with and the place was what was described.
Found kawakawa to be a nice base for our trip as it seemed to be the middle of everything we wanted to do.
20-30min to Paihia and Russell (by car ferry), 45min to whangarei and a couple hours to cape reinga.
The area is peaceful, being a farm there is stock (cows) and also wild rabbits to be mindful of.