18000 km and beyond

Today it has been exactly 3 weeks since I boarded the plane to the other end of the world. Accordingly, a lot has happened. After our short stop in Whangarei, the four of us continued north to Paihia. Paihia is a very small town, right on the east coast and incredibly beautiful. Since the sun finally came out that day and we were in such a good mood, we walked straight to the beach and enjoyed this wonderful time. Just look out at the sea, face in the sun and let your legs dangle.

And when the sun was gone, Adina and I had a little competition to see who had the most freckles ...

The next day, the next road trip was planned, to the northernmost point of New Zealand. Our bus left at seven in the morning. Of course, we were all highly motivated. For this we had the kitchen in our hostel all to ourselves, as well as a beautiful sunrise!

Overall, we were on the road for 10 hours that day and our bus driver told us a bit about the culture and life in New Zealand. For example, we briefly stopped at Waipoua Forest, the largest original forest area. There are the famous kauri trees, one of them being the largest tree in the country. It is already 18 meters high, 2000 years old, and still growing.

After a few hours on the bus, during which we discussed different dialects in Germany and realized that there are definitely more cows and sheep than people in New Zealand, we finally reached the main goal of our little road trip:

Cape Reinga!

Cape Reinga has been one of the most beautiful moments of our journey so far. The pictures don't even come close to capturing what we saw there. At the northernmost tip, the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, and if you're lucky, you can even see the waves overlap.

From here to home it is exactly 18095 km 📍

On the way back, we drove along Ninety Mile Beach, a highway right by the sea, right on the beach. And the end? Not in sight.

A little further on, we could even go sandboarding, like sledding or surfing, but on a sand dune, and 10 hours later, the adventure was over.