Northland with a couple of Italians

It's been a while since I last blogged; I've been busy travelling the very North with two Italians, Matilde and Amanda. 
I now have time to write as I've just arrived at the place where I'm WWOOFing for the next 2 and a half weeks. The couple are really nice with the most amazing house which they have built themselves, overlooking the sea with a back drop of native bush. More about this in the next post.

Day 1
I've now finished my first trimester at Vic uni so am currently of no fixed abode here in New Zealand. My first adventure started on the 17th November when I set off at 5am for Auckland where the 2 Italians and I hired a car for a week. 
After stopping at the Howes to drop off some luggage and for a lovely lunch we drove up to Paihia; our base for the next 5 nights. We were staying in a friendly hostel called 'Peppertree lodge' near the centre of town. After a trip to the supermarket and a planning session for the week ahead we fell into bed, already exhausted!

Day 2
A day of many waterfalls. We first set off for the famous Haruru waterfall, a nice waterfall but a little touristy, about 10 steps for the edge of the road. After this we drove on to the little town of Kerikeri where we found a nice little walking track starting at the oldest European building in New Zealand. After 1.5 hours of walking through fantastically green New Zealand forest, complete with vines and ferns of course, we reached the rainbow falls (pictured about). This was more my sort of waterfall; 27m high with a refreshing pool in front and a moss covered cave behind. The Italians found the water too cold so stayed on the bank but under the intense New Zealand sun I was more than happy to swim across, have the waterfall pour down on my head and explore the cave behind. 
Once back at the car we drove into the centre of Kerikeri and had a look around the sweet little town before returning to Paihia for a walk to Waitangi along the waterfront before dinner and bed.

Day 3
East coast beach hopping. We set off under thick clouds up the East coast to the north of Paihia. We stopped off at many beautiful sandy beaches along a winding road where we just paddled in the water because of the not so inviting weather. By lunch time we reached Mangonui and as we sat on the water front the sun came out, changing the temperature completely; so much so that once we'd finished our mountain of rice (travelling with Italians meant a lot of food) we went for an icecream.

In the afternoon we drove down the Karikari peninsular to Matai Bay; paradise. Here was one of the most idyllic beaches I've ever seen; the picture above definitely doesn't do it justice! Turquoise-blue sea was met by soft golden sands with craggy rocks to either side and a huge expanse of blue sky above. Despite slapping on suncream we all got rather burnt here. The weather was even warm enough to get Matilde and Amanda in to the water where we had a great swim despite the hundreds of tiny, non-stinging jelly fish. That evening we BBQed lamb, sausages and pepper for dinner and ate strawberries we had bought from a road side stall for dessert, yum!

Day 4
Right up to the North of the North. We set off at 7am with a German who needed a lift up to Kaitaia where our bus tour started. We hopped on to our Harrisons bus where we felt quite young compared to most on board; it was ok though as the tour guide was very sweet and chatty.
Our first stop was a Kauri tree gallery, then a few stops along the East coast including an incredibly white beach with sand almost as fine as flour. Lunch on a very windy beach before travelling to the northern most point of Cape Reinga where the famous lighthouse is and the turquoise Tasman sea can be seen meeting the darker blue Pacific Ocean. It was a shame the weather wasn't nicer but it was probably welcome relief for our sunburn.

Next stop was the sand dunes leading up to 90 mile beach. Here we stopped of and went tobogganing down the dunes which was great fun; got coated in sand! Even the oldies from our bus had a go (not from the top though). 
Drove through a river on to 90 mile beach (actually 55 miles), immediately saw a man who obviously had ignored the warnings and got his campervan stuck in the sand. Felt surreal driving along the beach in our old coach. 

After the tour we stopped off to buy some salmon and steak for the next 2 days' dinners, then took the winding road back to Paihia. After a long day we decided to go out for dinner to a restaurant in an old boat; I had the mussel chowder as I wanted to try sea food from Paihia.

Day 5
Trees. Went across to the west coast where the largest trees in the country live. On the way we stopped of at a 'scenic point' with breathtaking views overlooking Hokianga harbour. 
To the left is a picture of the second largest tree and largest kauri in the world; safe to say it was pretty big! After viewing this we went on to view the 2nd and 7th biggest kauri trees in the world and the '4 sisters' whilst on a 2 hour walk through a forest which made me feel exceedingly small.
On the way back to Paihia we stopped off and caught up with the outside world via wifi; once back we ate our salmon before retiring to bed.

Day 6
Dolphins. Friday was glorious weather wise so we spent the morning strolling through the small town of Paihia before taking a dolphin cruise where if the conditions are right you can swim with the dolphins.
We whizzed off in our boat with just 7 on board, bouncing off all the waves. After just 10 minutes we found a large dolphin pod who were more than happy to swim right up to the boat. Unfortunately they had a young baby with them so we weren't able to swim.

We're not allowed to swim with a pod that has a baby with it as the young dolphin needs to be fed every 3 minutes from it's mother in order to keep warm. After watching this pod for around 30 minutes we cruised between some of the bay's 144 islands in glorious sunshine (got burnt again) and watched gannets diving for fish. A great and relaxing afternoon despite not being able to swim. Amanda and I then went for a short walk to Whaitangi before returning to the hostel for BBQed steak and eggplant.

Day 7
Travelling back to Auckland. We set off early and slowly made our way back down South to Auckland, stopping off at Whangerei Falls and some fantastic beaches along the way.
Relaxing on the golden beaches in the 26C heat was fantastic and wonderfully relaxing.
Finally made it to the Howes around 5pm where Karen had made a delicious banana cake. Then made our way to our next hostel in Auckland, not quite as nice as the other but it did the job.

Day 8
Auckland. After dropping off the car we set off on foot around Auckland, strolled along the water front, visited many tourist shops for the Italians to buy some last minute presents and then went for a huge, very tasty lunch at a little chinese place. 
That afternoon was the Christmas parade in Auckland; most surreal seeing thousands of people lining the streets in antlers and sunglasses, slapping on sun cream whilst watching Father Christmas drive past. Definitely doesn't feel like proper christmas here.
In the afternoon we spent a while in the art gallery before getting some scrumptious ice creams from Giapos. 

Met Matilde's kiwi friend who she'd met when he spent a few months in her town in Italy.
The evening was then spent re packing Matilde and Amanda's 30kg suitcases before they set off for Italy at 3.30am the next morning.

Day 8
My first day as a lone traveller. Spent the day wandering around Auckland, buying a few presents. In the afternoon I found a shipping container which had been turned in to a pop up out door library so I sat out reading in the sun for a while before catching the bus to Karen's work and returning to the Howes. Had a lovely dinner and managed to catch up with Mum and Dad on skype whilst they were at Michael Mcintyre. 
So that's it, my week in the North; I'm already on to my next adventure and having a great time; I'll update you on that next week!