New Zealand - North Island 2

Hot Water Beach - Orewa (3rd - 10th March)

The Coromandel Peninsula is our destination. The first stop should be Waihi Beach. A charming little village and a beautiful beach. But we didn't stay long and continued to our overnight destination, Hot Water Beach. We arrived at the campsite and grabbed a shovel. Now it's time to dig and dig in a hot spring and then sit in our own hot pool. Wow, we didn't expect so many people. A huge sandbox for adults 😉. But we still found a pool with a pretty hot spring and splashed around a bit!

The next morning it was an early start. We want to go to Cathedral Cove, but not before a big tourist rush! So we were already in the car at 7:30 am and off we went! Wow, after a beautiful hike, there were only a handful of people at this natural wonder. A huge arch in the rock and inside a giant rock in the sea. Unfortunately, the water was a bit too high and rough, so we ended up with wet pants. But it was truly fantastic. Although we had already paid for another night at the campsite, we decided to go further to Coromandel Town. The road is very, very, very curvy and time-consuming, and since we don't have much time left, we can save a day. On our way to Coromandel Town, we naturally stopped at New Chums Beach, one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches worldwide, apparently. The path there was accordingly, over rocks (literally over balls of rock) and through the forest, up and down over roots and rocks until we reached the beach after 30 minutes. When the sun and the blue sky appeared, we were even more convinced! Of course, a swim was a must, so we were already in the cold sea!
In Coromandel Town, we went another 3km north to the Driving Creek Railway. It was built by a man named Barry, who built his own railway from the 70s until he died in 2015! He needed it to transport the clay for his pottery work from the mountain to his house. It was only opened to tourists in the 90s! He built everything by hand. The track is now 3km long and goes over a few bridges (even a double decker), through 3 tunnels to the viewpoint Eyefull Tower. It was a fascinating experience to see this work!

The next day was a travel day. We wanted to go from Coromandel Town to behind Auckland, so we can quickly reach the Bay of Islands and enjoy it there! One of the most beautiful areas on the North Island. Luckily, Auckland was no problem at all with traffic, so we drove until shortly before Whangarei, 299 km, to Ruakaka. There, Ilse found a super nice free campsite where we stayed for free, right on the beach. So after a few hours in the car, we could enjoy some sunny hours on the beach and in the sea!

Today, our destination is Russell. In the middle of the Bay of Islands. We received a recommendation from an Englishman that it should be very charming and the campsite is great! I thought the never-ending curves left and right, up and down. I even felt a bit sick while driving. So we took a little break and then continued refreshed! Despite the curves, it was an amazing drive! A lot of rain is expected in the next few days, luckily it didn't rain today. We had a very hot and sunny day! Hopefully it stays that way! We checked in at the campsite with a view of the sea, explored the town, had something to eat and tried the local wine and beer. We also booked a tour for tomorrow: dolphin watching and swimming with them (wild dolphins in the open sea)! Ilse had tears in her eyes because she had wanted to do this for a long time! We were nervous and excited when we hopped into bed!

In the morning, we woke up early and at exactly 8:10am, the boat picked us up at the dock in Russell. There were 11 of us, but there was room for 35, cool 😉. After a short instruction, we set off and everyone's eyes were searching for dolphins (the larger species)! And look, they appeared not far from us! Swimming with them was not guaranteed because they first check the mood and behavior of the dolphins before letting people into the water. Normally, there is an acclimatization phase, but we had to be quick because they were a bit afraid that the dolphins would swim away! So we all put on our wetsuits, snorkels, and fins, and jumped into the water!! There was one next to you, two right next to the island... wow... just wow! Unfortunately, snorkeling didn't work so well for both of us, more water came in than air, so we went in without snorkeling and continued watching from the boat! Soon, everyone had to get back on the boat and we continued. And there were dolphins all around the boat again...! One even flirted with us... it stayed close to our boat, just an arm's length away! It looked at us (have you ever had a dolphin really and closely look into your eyes?!) and spun around its own axis and "danced". What an incredible experience!! We were all speechless, except for Ilse, who flirted and talked with the dolphin, giving it more compliments than us 😉. It was incredibly amazing! Then we had a sightseeing tour through the Bay of Islands until we saw the other type of dolphins (common dolphins = smaller ones). As a finale, they gave us a jumping show, where they jumped about 5-6m high... simply amazing! So we happily returned to the harbor and had lunch! Afterwards, we made our way to the nearby ferry, which took about 5 minutes, to Paihia! So we didn't have to take the curvy road anymore! Still amazed by the experiences, we made ourselves comfortable at the campsite and enjoyed the rest of the hours by the sea, relaxing and chilling!

We will be staying at this campsite for the next two nights. We visited Kerikeri, went to the Rainbow Falls, and did some more wine tasting. This time, the wine didn't impress us that much. The dinner, on the other hand, was delicious! On the second day, we did the hike from Waitangi to the Haruru Falls. Luckily, we had seen and knew what to expect the day before. Not really a waterfall, but it was okay! The hike wasn't the most beautiful, but it was nice to walk in nature. On Friday, after the walk, we decided to travel to Orewa, so that we are already close to Auckland and can enjoy the beach and pack in peace on Saturday. So we arrived in Orewa on the 5th and checked in at the campsite right by the beach. A cool spot, unfortunately with locals in front of us who let their boomboxes run all night long and the only thing that counts is alcohol. Oh well, that's probably their way of celebrating the weekend 😉.

Today is Saturday and we woke up to a clear blue sky. We started our day by walking around the small lake. Then we ended up in town and returned to the campsite where we made ourselves comfortable with a view of the sea and a book (and me with my laptop 😊) to relax a bit! In the evening, we'll pack and get everything ready for tomorrow. On the 10th, we have to check out and drive to Auckland to return the camper at the airport! We're done with our friend, the camper... we're looking forward to a real bed again, but on the other hand, we're also a bit sad! It was an amazing 5.5 weeks! We'll spend 3 more days in Auckland and then it's time to say goodbye to New Zealand! We're kind of sad that it's over, but also happy that we had the chance to experience it, and we're looking forward to being back home with family, friends, our apartment, our bed, and our car 😉.

See you soon....