Week 2 - Northland

Paihia + Kaitaia

After a week we finally left Auckland. As nice as it was, it's supposed to be the least interesting part of NZ. Above it there is a small corner of land called 'Northland'. My first stop was Paihia, a small surfer town in the Bay of Islands, a bay with around 150 islands. I spent six nights here. This was the first hostel where I was able to really relax because the weather was very bad for the first two days and there was a comfortable couch😃 I used the time to plan a bit for October. So now the next 2-3 places have been decided and I've also booked two 4-day hikes, which I'm really looking forward to. These long hikes here are called 'Great Walks' and are always booked up very quickly. They are also one of my main destinations in NZ!

Over the next few days I went on a few short hikes to explore the area. The one on the island of Urupukapuka was especially beautiful! I was all alone there with six other people and lots of sheep :D you could walk the entire island, past lonely bays with turquoise water and cliffs. From a distance I could see a few dolphins, but no orcas, which are probably at home here too... but there's still time for that :)

The next trip was completely spontaneous again because two people from my hostel in Auckland wanted to go to the northernmost tip of New Zealand and took me with them. The path to 'Cape Reinga' went past kilometers of untouched landscape to cliffs with a lighthouse where at the bottom a bay with a beach could be seen. OF COURSE I grabbed my bathing suit, scrambled down and jumped into the sea (don't worry, don't go far in, because of strong currents) but that had to be done, after all, this is the northernmost beach in NZ where no one else goes down🤭 Afterwards we drove towards the sunset and got in the car cruised the '90-Mile Beach'. We also visited countless beaches and two beautiful waterfalls, where of course we always had to jump in! 90 Mile Beach also has huge sand dunes that you can surf down.

My second hostel in Kaitaia, even further north, was also super interesting. That's where I first heard about the TA Trail because everyone in the hostel started there. This is a 3000km trail that runs from the northernmost tip all the way to the south of NZ and can be completed in approximately 5 months. Another girl I was in the hostel with didn't know the trail either and in the end we almost mentally took part in it ourselves because we saw all the preparation for 3 days and it was the only topic of conversation there😂 I was definitely very inspired by it! (Maybe someday :))

Now we're heading back to Auckland for two days and then heading further south towards the cold❄️