To Maitai Beach via Whangarai

Morning Pic

After a good night's sleep, we start our last long tour towards the north. Our destination is Cape Karikari, a peninsula about 100 km before Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand. The campground here was so beautiful that we will probably stop here again on our way back.

Last night, I saw a lot of fireflies flying around💡💡.

In Whangarei, we make a short stop to visit Hundertwasser's house and take a walk through the town. Hundertwasser lived here from 1975 until his death. The whole town seems to be influenced by him

and the sellers of Christmas 🎅

We continue towards Cape Reinga, through mountains,

mangroves,

and past beaches.

I will have to google why the hills in New Zealand have this wavy surface when I have wifi again.

We reach Maitai Beach after the last few kilometers of gravel road (sounds like a cocktail bar). We are once again completely overwhelmed by the view. We are standing above the beach overlooking the bay.

There is also a neighboring bay where we see a small dead penguin lying on the beach. 🐧

The sea has Caribbean colors and the water is crystal clear.

On the way back, we encounter several groups of young people cleaning the beach.

We take our evening walk to the Maori sculptures that we can see from our van.

It's getting too cold to sit outside☹️

We rarely have WIFI here🫤, so entries will be sporadic and delayed.