Sea, bays, beautiful landscape: Northland on NZ's North Island

After spending a day around Lake Taupo, we headed NE for the Coromandel Peninsula. On our way, we stopped by a beautiful waterfall and walked through a redwood forest. The redwoods were planted over 100 years ago. Nice to get some tree time. 

We stayed at a cute little hotel in the waterfront town of Thames. We had a great dinner, then watched a beautiful sunset over the bay. I always love watching sunsets, especially with Jos. We had a quiet evening with wine and chocolate. The next morning, we got coffee in the cute downtown and headed North to the upper half of the island, above Auckland.  

We selected a little B&B in the cute seaside town of Copper Bay. The hosts were really nice. The man was an advid Harley rider, so we chatted about his rides around the world and other travel adventures. Always fun to talk about travel adventures with interesting people. He also told us about one whale that had not left yet for migration, but after two mornings of scanning the bay we did not see it. Our loss. 

We took a day trip up to the very top of the peninsula to a famous area in NZ: Cape Reinga, where the Tasman Sea meets the Paciifc. There is an old lighthouse there and also a very sacred spot for the Maori people: a lone tree on a little spot of land that has been there for eons. The Maori believe that upon death, souls jump off Mt Ngauruhoe (which we hiked around on our trek), to this tree, and then to the spirit world.

I was told that this part of the ocean - where the Tasman & Pacific clash - would be incredibly choppy and turbulent. I don’t believe it at all. After being out there for two hours, it was warm, windless, and with no wave or turbulence to be seen. 😀 (JL: kind of like when he met Lake Superior and it was, unusually, like glass!) All joking aside, I’m sure that part of the ocean is very dangerous and most the time very turbulent. 

After two nights at the cute b&b, we headed SW down the peninsula, making a stop through the famous Bay of Islands. It is gorgeous, and I assume a wonderful place to visit before it became a cruise ship stop and major tourist destination. The place was packed so, after a short walk, we headed out. It might be best to visit during the off season. 

Our next three nights were spent at an incredibly beautiful farm in the Northland, this time on the West Coast, on the Pouto peninsula. I selected the place, but was a little concerned about the remote location and staying on a working farm. It was a converted garage space with wonderful, expansive views over the farm, and glimpsing the ocean to the West and the Wairoa river to the East. It was a working dairy farm, but the house and AirBNB unit were far enough away that we didn’t even smell cows. There was also a very cute and friendly cat, so I got a couple of days of cat time! 🐈

One of our days there, we walked to the beach. The route took us by one of the other houses down the road, where some of the family were working with horses. There was also an old dog watching the activities. When we walked by, they asked if we minded having the dog as company on the way to beach. This dog must have been 12 years old, but it took off and, to our surprise, led us all the way to the beach. It would trot ahead, then turn around to make sure we were following. When it got to an electric fence that had been turned off (wires laying on the ground) it was clever enough to walk around and not over or near the wires. Smart dog. We enjoyed some quiet time exploring the beach and I even managed to get in the water. Brrr!!  Jos was smart enough to stay out of the water and do some beachcombing. 

After an idyllic few days there, we left the nice little AirBNB and headed for Auckland. We planned to stay three nights before heading to Argentina. We stayed at the same Sheraton we visited in March, but got a great upgrade to a suite! Nice digs. Beautiful rooftop bar. We spent the next few days catching up on banking, etc. and did a little exploring. All in all, a very relaxing stay in Auckland. We did get back to the Caretaker, one of our favorite cocktail bars on the trip. 

It was a wonderful three weeks in one of my favorite countries that I have visited. If I could find a way to work in NZ, I would. 

Enjoy some of our beautiful pictures. Please be aware that this crazy website we are using always puts the pictures out of order. First picture is usually at the bottom. 

pictures on in reverse order.