The far north

We headed north from Auckland to explore the Bay of Islands for a long weekend. Unfortunately my dad was in Sydney for work, but Mum admirably took on the role of tour guide and we had a great time.

The bay has 144 islands in total and the combination of the gorgeous curves of the coastline, the turquoise water and the sprinkling of tiny islands makes for incredible views.

The area also has a lot of historical significance with some of NZ's oldest buildings and amazing stories about the early days of the country. The Waitangi treaty ground marks the spot where Maori chiefs and representatives of the British Empire signed the controversial agreement that brought New Zealand under Queen Victoria's rule.

As well as Busby (the first government representative in the country)'s house, there is also a Maori meeting house on the site with many impressive carvings.

Rob and I went on a boat trip out into the Bay  of Islands, in search of dolphins. Sadly the dolphins weren't in the mood for showing off (maybe they were put off by the miserable weather) but we did see the bay in its full glory, so no complaints.

The next day the weather was much better and we headed up to the far north on a coach trip. The early morning mist on our journey was very dramatic.
The bus is specially designed for driving on sand, which meant we had a brilliant drive along 90 mile beach. It's actually only about 55 miles but that was long enough! The tide can be quite brutal and some people get caught out, like the driver of this 4 x 4, which is now partly buried in the sand!

At the top end of the beach are the enormous Te Paki sand dunes, where we did a bit of dune surfing. They're very tall and steep at times so it was pretty exhilarating to plummet down head first with just a body board to cling onto!

Cape Reinga, the far north tip of the island is an amzing place. We were very lucky to have a clear, still day, which gave us fantastic views out into the never-ending Pacific ocean. If you were to jump off the cape, you could keep swimming for 2066 miles before you even reached the equator, let alone land!

The journey back to Auckland was wonderful, too. We took a detour across the Hokianga harbour on a car ferry and through the ancient kauri tree forests.

The kauris are the second largest trees on Earth (after Redwoods) and Tane Mahuta is the tallest living kauri. It really is overwhelming to stand at the bottom of this 2000 year old tree and marvel at its immense size and the variety of life it supports. I also find it amazing that it was still there in the same spot before any people lived in New Zealand.

A lovely few days in Northland before setting off to the South Island later this week!

Rachel x