Week 5 - Kiwi, Kaka, Cooking Stove, and Potato Salad

On Monday, we drove to Tawharanui Regional Park to hike the Ecologic Trail. The Regional Park is known for its abundance of bird species, like the Takahe and of course, New Zealand's national bird, the Kiwi. Unfortunately, the Kiwi is heavily endangered and can only be found in a few areas in New Zealand in its natural habitat.

The hike led us along a small bay, across grassy pastures, and through dense New Zealand forest. There we spotted a Kaka, a native parrot.

But the highlight came after dark. Julian set out with a headlamp to search for Kiwis and he was not disappointed. After just a few hundred meters on the edge of the campsite, he found the first Kiwi, which quickly disappeared into the bushes. A few steps further, we saw a second Kiwi, which was unbothered by the red light and allowed us to observe it while searching for food. Back at the van, Franzi also wanted to see a Kiwi. So we went back out into the night. After not even five meters, Franzi spotted a Kiwi sitting right behind our van. This was completely unexpected, and we were overjoyed to encounter this unique bird in the wild.

To process all the experiences, we took a rest day the next day and decided to spend yet another night at Tawharanui Regional Park. We enjoyed the nice weather and relaxed in and around our van. In the evening, we wanted to look for Kiwis again, but this time we couldn't spot any of the shy birds.

The weather decided that the next day would also be a rest day, as it rained quite a bit. We ran some errands and then headed north toward Uretiti Beach.

With better weather and feeling well-rested, a longer hike was on the agenda for Thursday. We drove to Ocean Beach near Whangarei Head and made our way to the Bream Head Trail. With some elevation gain and many stairs, it was up and down through the jungle-like forest. The efforts were rewarded with beautiful views over the bays and all the way to Whangarei.

We also spent the next day doing laundry, refueling, and disposing of waste before we could enjoy a beautiful walk to the Whangarei Falls from our campsite for the night. At this beautiful waterfall, the water plunges 26m downwards.

We spent the night in an unglamorous parking lot and were parked so crookedly that Julian almost fell out of bed at night. Unfortunately, there weren't any other options in Whangarei, but we plan to avoid parking so crookedly in the future.

On Saturday, we drove to Tutukaka and hiked to the lighthouse. It wasn't particularly interesting, but the view was well worth it. We visited two more viewpoints in Tutukaka and then drove to our campsite, right by the beach with the most beautiful view for writing our blog. We didn't need much more to be satisfied. For the first time on our trip, we craved food from home, so we made some potato salad.

This week, we finally resolved the issue of the camping stove. We returned the previously purchased stove and bought a different brand in another store. This one works perfectly and we enjoy using it every day.

About the weather: It is autumn in New Zealand, but we have had temperatures between 18 and 20 degrees so far. They feel quite different with or without the wind. According to the locals, there are “4 seasons in one day” here. And after 2 weeks, we can totally agree. One moment, you have blue skies and bright sunshine, and the next moment, it rains heavily. Only to have blue skies again after 5 minutes. Therefore, we never leave the house/van without a rain jacket.