And the topic continues!

Hello hello!

You have been eagerly waiting for the next part for two whole weeks and I thank you very much for clicking back in. I always try to meet and exceed your expectations! As one of my childhood heroes used to say: 'To infinity and beyond!' haha my brothers are probably blushing with embarrassment, but that doesn't matter. My blog, my rules! :)

Our first stop in the Northland was a legendary campground in Orewa. I am currently back there, but it's not the same without Hannes :)

Our tradition began and from then on we watched a movie, a series or an anime every evening before going to sleep. My laptop provided good picture quality and Hannes UE BOOM 2 had great sound quality! We started our tradition with the movies Inception and Project X.

The next day we continued on to Waipu, where we felt like real cave explorers for the first time. With newly purchased headlamps, we bravely marched into the cave. It was partially flooded, so we had to continue walking in slippers, flip flops and barefoot. :D

After this great experience, we wanted to dive straight into the next cave! Fortunately, it was very close by. But before that, we took a night break in Whangarei, where we saw several waterfalls. Based on our experiences during our first 'cave trip' *ba-dum-tss*, we bought two pairs of surf shoes. They turned out to be a very good investment, considering the amount of water and the danger of slipping barefoot when descending.

Once we arrived at the Abbey Caves, there were three different caves to explore. We completed two of them, as we were already extremely wet after the second one. One of the caves was so heavily flooded that we were standing in water up to our hips. Driven by the spirit of exploration, we always wanted to go further, until the point where we would have had to swim. On the way back, we met some scared Germans who were sitting on high rocks, protecting themselves from supposed crabs in the dark water. Hannes and I just thought, 'Luckily, we didn't see them!' :D

Out of the cave and out of our wet clothes, we headed to Mount Manaia. 1100 steps led us to the top of the mountain. Apparently, it is also a popular spot for joggers who passed us in quick succession and smirked at our pace. In the evening of this exhausting day, we treated ourselves to three pizzas from Pizza Hut for the first time.

We got up early and headed to Paihia. On the way there, our biggest attraction so far awaited us: the Hundertwasser toilets!

We spent a total of three nights at the Top10 campground in Paihia because we liked it there so much. A site right by the water, a TV room with Sky and unlimited WIFI made the rainy days more enjoyable for us. We also took the time every day to cook delicious fresh food. On July 16th, we got up at 2:30 a.m. to watch the FIFA World Cup final between France and Croatia. Armed with beer, chips, candy, etc., we were surprisingly the only ones in the TV room! :D Football is hardly followed here. After a great game and extremely funny drinking games, we went back to sleep until 11 a.m.

Our next major goal was Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand. On the way there, we made a detour to the 'Rainbow' Falls, climbed Castle Rock 2.0 and met some possums.

The view from the lighthouse at Cape Reinga was breathtakingly beautiful, and I will upload the pictures for this.

Twenty minutes from this spot, there are even huge, kilometers-long sand dunes. There was a Maori with his car standing there, who had a whole trailer load of 'sandboards'. He rented them out for only $5 a day. We spent three and a half hours diving into the sand masses: sprinting up the dunes with boards in hand and then speeding down. We quickly learned how to stand on the boards and impressed some other people who only tried it on their butts or stomachs. After all the effort, we treated ourselves to a large portion of fish and chips!

After reaching our goal, we started driving back down the Northland. This time we took the roads on the west coast to see the impressive 'Kauri trees'. 'Tane Mahuta' is the largest of them and is also called the god of the forest by the locals. Before every hike through these forests, we had to clean and disinfect our shoes, that's the way it should be!

The next family-run campground we visited offered free kayak rentals. We gladly took advantage of this generous offer and enjoyed ourselves on the water for three hours.

By now it was already July 21st and we had booked a surfing course in Te Arai, which we were looking forward to. It was a lot of fun and our trainer as well as the other participants praised us for our quick progress. Unfortunately, we were the only ones who managed to stand up without help. Proud of our achievement, Hannes and I made a promise to go surfing together again in Europe for sure!

So, we were once again near Auckland and drove a little further southeast on the same day. On July 22nd, we did a hike in the Pinnacles, a mountain range in Coromandel. The special thing about this hike was the overnight stay in the dormitory of a big mountain lodge. Packed with our two tracking backpacks, filled with cooking utensils, sleeping bags and change of clothes, we set off. The hike took three hours one way, and we walked the second half in the dark. It was not a problem due to our headlamps, but rather an additional exciting element. Once we reached the top, we set up our sleeping area, cooked some food, and spent the rest of the day chatting with other backpackers by the warming fireplace.

The next morning, we got up at 6 a.m. because we wanted to watch the sunrise from up close. The path to the viewpoint took one hour. It was a steep and windy climb, but as soon as the first warm rays of sunshine hit our skin, it was definitely worth it. A picture-perfect view!

It was already July 23rd, and since our hostel reservation in Auckland was not until the 24th, we decided to spend one more night at our favorite campground. That's right, off to Orewa! The whole evening there was simply hilarious and will remain unforgettable.

On July 24th, the time had come, our last days were numbered! To celebrate Hannes' New Zealand adventure, a cool double room had already been booked several weeks ago at the fancy Haka Lodge Hostel. I can recommend it to Hannes and myself from my own experience.

Until the evening of July 27th, we had the most beautiful time of my life in Auckland. All the adventures we experienced together and how much we laughed together. I can't put it into words, but Hannes and I will carry it in our hearts forever.

The farewell at the airport was even more difficult and took a lot of strength from both of us.

Finally, I would like to say that I truly enjoyed every second of the time to the fullest. With our spontaneity and zest for life, we always made the best out of every situation. It was the best decision that you came to New Zealand, Hannes! I love you endlessly, my little Kiwi.