Northland New Zealand

Just got back from a 3 day adventure to the Northland of NZ. Finally had a chance to get out of the city, and remind myself why it was that I came to New Zealand in the first place --To travel and see the country! It felt good to get into travel mindset.


Started off in Paihia (pie-hee-a) which is a busy little town in the Bay of Islands on the far northeast coast. This is the birthplace of New Zealand, where Kupe (a Polynesian explorer) is thought to have visited back in the 10th century, and then followed by his descendant Toi about 200 years later. This is also where Captain James Cook and the early Europeans had their first contact with the Maori people, and later where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. (more about that another day, as I have an upcoming conference about it) At Paihia, I took a boat tour of the harbour and some of the surrounding islands. We saw the lighthouse at Cape Brett, the hole in the rock at Piercy Island, and some dolphins swam along side the boat.

Day two, Off to the tip of New Zealand; bus tour of the far north.

We stopped off at a Kauri swamp tree restoring and carving factory, these are the largest trees in New Zealand, and the oldest timber on earth! The trees have been preserved in swampland, and are dug up and turned into beautiful crafts and furniture. The wood is a fantastic colour, the trees are massive, one large piece of trunk has even been carved into a staircase with a chainsaw!

We drove up 90 Mile Beach while the tide was coming in, the very rough Tasman sea on the left and the many special tribal meeting grounds and forest preservation areas inland on the right. Stopped off at the giant sand dunes for some Sand-boarding!





Then it was off to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand. In Maori mythology, Cape Reinga is the place where the spirits of the dead depart the land, as they return to their ancestral land of Hawaiki. This is also where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide.



We stopped on the way home at a great fish and chips shop and one of the Kauri Forest Preserves. *Sidenote: There is a bigger and better Kauri Tree Forset to be explored on my next adventure northward!*





The scenery was fantastic all day on the bus, the hills, mountains, forests and greenery were incredible!



This morning before heading back to Auckland I went "horse trekin". We went UP to the top of a volcano: Mount Te Puke. From here, we were able to look out over the Pacific and the Bay of Islands below, and then took the horses for a walk in the ocean on the way back.





The Northland was beautiful, I can't wait to go back to do all the things I missed!