The Northland

Our last stop in New Zealand (after Fiji) was the so-called Northland (as the name suggests, it is located in the northernmost part of New Zealand).

For the Northland, we had a lot planned, including free glowworm caves, a bus tour to the northernmost tip of New Zealand (Cape Reinga), and swimming with dolphins. Unfortunately, we didn't pay much attention to the weather forecast, and when we heard that a cyclone was expected to hit New Zealand in the next few days (although it had already weakened after passing through Australia, but a cyclone is still not cool even if it's weakened), we weren't thrilled. 

First on our list were the so-called Abby Caves (free glowworm caves). Unfortunately, we had to take care of a slightly injured climber in the parking lot (Lena's excellent first aid skills from the Red Cross course were of great help). The climber had slipped on the slippery rocks caused by the rain. And when we heard that we would be standing in waist-deep water in the caves, we weren't so keen on going anymore.

The next day, we had planned to do a dolphin-watching/swimming tour, but when the skipper of the boat told us that the waves were 4 meters high (because of the cyclone), we decided to postpone the dolphin tour for another day.

The following day, we went on a bus tour to Cape Reinga. Unfortunately, Lena had gotten a bit sick from bad chili con carne and wouldn't have been able to come along. Fortunately, the bus tour was rescheduled for the next day due to a flooded road. The next day, Lena was feeling better and was able to join the bus tour, which was really nice.

A day later, we finally did the dolphin tour (this time with waves only 2.5 meters high, but that didn't stop Lena from getting seasick). We saw many dolphins up close, but we couldn't swim with them because there was a 3-month-old baby dolphin (really cute) among the dolphin group. The boat trip also took us through the beautiful Bay of Islands, which I (Aline, not seasick) really enjoyed. Lena was too busy trying not to throw up (successfully!).

Afterwards, we headed back to Auckland.