Im Northland

'Northland' of New Zealand is everything north of Auckland. We have been to the New Zealand North Island 4 times so far, but only managed to visit Northland twice. And we were always under time pressure because it was at the end of our vacation.

This time we wanted to do it differently, so we immediately put it on the program after Waitomo. We drove through Auckland once and then started working our way north along the west coast. Here we were hindered several times by the destruction caused by the cyclone in mid-February (as well as heavy rainfall in January) - not all of our destinations were accessible. Some paths were also closed due to a tree disease ('Kauri dieback disease'). Later, when we traveled south again via Cape Reinga and the east coast, it was more the current weather that limited our possibilities. Beaches and bays simply look better in the sun than under clouds, storms, and rain ... At least now it was constantly around 20°C and therefore (for the first time here in NZ) shorts time.

Despite all obstacles, we have seen a lot: we visited plenty of bays and beaches (some big, some small), as well as the Kauri forests with ancient giants that are up to 2000 years old. There were a few pretty villages, and the oldest houses that exist in New Zealand. Unexpectedly, we also saw some flowering Ratas and Pohutukawas (in bush form)... we can't list everything individually, so just click through the pictures.

We had a very special experience on our trip to Cape Reinga: a few kilometers away, there are the somewhat famous sand dunes at Te Paki Stream. We went for a walk on them, but the wind (it was actually a hefty storm) was so strong that the sand whipped up and hit our legs and faces painfully. This gave us a - sufficiently satisfactory - impression of a sandstorm in a desert.

In the Bay of Islands, we made another attempt to see Kiwis in the wild. For this purpose, we had booked a rather remote accommodation, where we sneaked through the adjacent forest/bush with red light flashlights after dark. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any Kiwis - despite 2 such nights - but at least we heard them, so they were there...