We saw a kiwi this weekend! A real live kiwi bird in the wild! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
This weekend was Labour Weekend here in New Zealand, so we had a 3-day weekend to enjoy. We decided to take advantage of it and visit Northland, the northernmost part of the North Island, well of New Zealand as a whole really. New Zealand make seem like a small country, but it's very long. Even from Auckland (which I think of as being pretty far north already), it still would've taken us over 6 hours to get to the very tip of Northland! That's why we decided to break up the drive a bit.
We left at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning (literally, I was still in my PJs and Paul generously offered to drive so I could catch some more ZZZZs). Those of you who know me, know I'm a bit of a sleeping beauty and definitely not a morning person, so getting up this early was a big feat! But it was certainly worth it (especially with Paul driving- thanks!).
We arrived at Waipu Caves before 8am and had them to ourselves! There are many places in NZ known for their glow worms, many of which have been capitalized on by tourist companies, but the Waipu Caves are still free and untouched. Not only is the cave itself breathtaking- and fun to explore (I was wading through the stream to get back as far as I dared), but the glow worms lit the way like a starlit sky. It was nice to be alone in the caves and marvel at the wonders of nature. I felt a few drops on my head and stopped to think about how long it might take me to turn into a stalagmite and become part of this wonderful cave.
After a quick snack of cheese and crackers, we got back on the road and headed for the coast. We took the scenic coastal route up the east coast, stopped briefly in Russell (a quaint little seaside town I want to return to and spend more time in), then hopped the car ferry across to Opua. It was there that we met a Couch Surfer for a motorized row boat tour of the Waikare Inlet- a nice way to see the sights and something we'd never have been able to do on our own. We took a tour of the yacht he plans to move into soon, but didn't have enough manpower to set sail in it.
By this time, it was nearly dinner time and we had a date with our Couch Surfing hosts in Honeymoon Valley. Unfortunately I can't post any pictures because I promised her I wouldn't, but her house was hand made with love and beautiful. Clay from Honeymoon Valley itself with bottles in the walls of the bathroom to let through the natural light, beautiful mosaics, an earthen fireplace/stove- all set in the backdrop of a peaceful valley with plenty of land, water and fresh air. Her dog Buddy was a joy as well (which is saying a lot because I don't typically like dogs).
Sunday was our day to head all the way up north- to Cape Reinga. Our first stop was at a little shop just at the entrance to Far North Rd- Kauri Kingdom. Now, we've seen Kauri trees before as you may recall from previous posts, but have yet to see the largest living kauris. Unfortunately, this stop still didn't quench our desire to see the largest living kauri, but we did get to see a woodworkers masterpiece- a functional staircase carved into the trunk of a kauri. It is a truly beautiful wood when finished, but these trees are endangered so it's a shame to see them die.
We also bought ourselves a companion for the Far North Rd journey- Kohi the Kiwi bird. He kept us company for the rest of the weekend and gave us good luck in spotting that kiwi later, but I'll get to that. Right now, we're still working our way up Far North Rd, a beautiful gently winding road up to the tip of NZ. It was still early enough (and far enough away from anything) that we were often the only car in sight.
If you're still reading this, pat yourself on the back. You've just made it to the northernmost part of New Zealand! And what a beautiful spot it is. According to native Maori tradition, this meeting of the Pacific Ocean with the Tasman Sea is where the spirits go to find their final resting place. What a beautiful place it is.
After exploring the tip of New Zealand, we turned around for the long journey back to Honeymoon Valley, where we had a neighbourhood barbeque awaiting us. But first, we took a detour to the Te Paki sand dunes. It was a challenging climb, but well worth it to get lost in the golden sandy coastal dunes. And we didn't have to climb back down- we had our sand board for that!
Again, we debated passing over this stop as we had already caught a small glimpse of 90-mile beach from the Te Paki sand dunes. I'm really glad we stopped though as it was exhilarating to chase the waves. They were a force to be reckoned with and quite a sight, sound and feel.
Our last stop for the weekend was to visit some of the biggest trees in New Zealand. That's Paul above. He's pretty tall, but doesn't measure up to the kauri trees. First we stopped to see the largest kauri stump, which was very big indeed, but a bit overgrown with ferns. After walking across the ancient stump, we hopped back in the car to visit some living giants. We saw the biggest tree first. It was admittedly impressive. However, I was disappointed to see that the trees around it were somewhat average. I'm glad we had time to go exploring deeper into the forest. On the 25 minute walk to visit the 7th largest kauri, Yakas, the trees kept getting bigger and bigger. Until eventually, we arrived at a cathedral grove full of massive trees. Just around the corner was Yakas, and we could walk over and hug him! It was my favorite part of the kauri visit.
By the time we finished our kauri hike, the sun had already set and it was getting dark- perfect conditions for the nocturnal kiwi bird. We decided to add one more stop to the itinerary and try our luck at spotting a real New Zealand kiwi bird in the wild. We pulled into the Trounson Kauri Park and kiwi reserve, covered our flashlights with my purple scarf (not really a great substitute for red filtered light, but it did soften it a bit) and set out on an adventure. We walked along the boardwalk and through the pavilion, and not long after entering the forest we heard some rustling on the ground. We stopped and looked around and saw a opossum scamper up a tree with its baby on its back. But the rustling on the ground continued. I was just about ready to move on, but Paul brought up the valid point that since the rustling noise hadn't left or scurried up a tree, it was likely a flightless kiwi bird with no climbing skills (as all kiwi birds are). After a bit of poking around with the light, we spotted it- a real kiwi bird! He was just going about his business, digging for food in the soil. He didn't really seem to mind us much, and moved very slowly. It's no wonder he's going extinct- not great at avoiding predators.
It was a perfect end to what (to me anyway) was the perfect kiwi weekend, complete with all New Zealand's famous; kiwis, kauris and coves, oh my!
This weekend was Labour Weekend here in New Zealand, so we had a 3-day weekend to enjoy. We decided to take advantage of it and visit Northland, the northernmost part of the North Island, well of New Zealand as a whole really. New Zealand make seem like a small country, but it's very long. Even from Auckland (which I think of as being pretty far north already), it still would've taken us over 6 hours to get to the very tip of Northland! That's why we decided to break up the drive a bit.
------------------------------Waipu Caves------------------------------
We left at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning (literally, I was still in my PJs and Paul generously offered to drive so I could catch some more ZZZZs). Those of you who know me, know I'm a bit of a sleeping beauty and definitely not a morning person, so getting up this early was a big feat! But it was certainly worth it (especially with Paul driving- thanks!).
We arrived at Waipu Caves before 8am and had them to ourselves! There are many places in NZ known for their glow worms, many of which have been capitalized on by tourist companies, but the Waipu Caves are still free and untouched. Not only is the cave itself breathtaking- and fun to explore (I was wading through the stream to get back as far as I dared), but the glow worms lit the way like a starlit sky. It was nice to be alone in the caves and marvel at the wonders of nature. I felt a few drops on my head and stopped to think about how long it might take me to turn into a stalagmite and become part of this wonderful cave. ------------------------------Bay of Islands------------------------------
After a quick snack of cheese and crackers, we got back on the road and headed for the coast. We took the scenic coastal route up the east coast, stopped briefly in Russell (a quaint little seaside town I want to return to and spend more time in), then hopped the car ferry across to Opua. It was there that we met a Couch Surfer for a motorized row boat tour of the Waikare Inlet- a nice way to see the sights and something we'd never have been able to do on our own. We took a tour of the yacht he plans to move into soon, but didn't have enough manpower to set sail in it. By this time, it was nearly dinner time and we had a date with our Couch Surfing hosts in Honeymoon Valley. Unfortunately I can't post any pictures because I promised her I wouldn't, but her house was hand made with love and beautiful. Clay from Honeymoon Valley itself with bottles in the walls of the bathroom to let through the natural light, beautiful mosaics, an earthen fireplace/stove- all set in the backdrop of a peaceful valley with plenty of land, water and fresh air. Her dog Buddy was a joy as well (which is saying a lot because I don't typically like dogs).
------------------------------Kauri Kingdom------------------------------
Sunday morning we woke up to the rooster outside our window- as if he knew we had had an early morning the day before, the rooster didn't wake up with the sun. He waited and let us have a bit of a sleep in until 7am or so. We crawled out of our bamboo bed and went downstairs for some home made jam and toast (yes, the bread was home made too). What a beautiful place to stay!
Sunday was our day to head all the way up north- to Cape Reinga. Our first stop was at a little shop just at the entrance to Far North Rd- Kauri Kingdom. Now, we've seen Kauri trees before as you may recall from previous posts, but have yet to see the largest living kauris. Unfortunately, this stop still didn't quench our desire to see the largest living kauri, but we did get to see a woodworkers masterpiece- a functional staircase carved into the trunk of a kauri. It is a truly beautiful wood when finished, but these trees are endangered so it's a shame to see them die.------------------------------Cape Reinga------------------------------
We also bought ourselves a companion for the Far North Rd journey- Kohi the Kiwi bird. He kept us company for the rest of the weekend and gave us good luck in spotting that kiwi later, but I'll get to that. Right now, we're still working our way up Far North Rd, a beautiful gently winding road up to the tip of NZ. It was still early enough (and far enough away from anything) that we were often the only car in sight. 
If you're still reading this, pat yourself on the back. You've just made it to the northernmost part of New Zealand! And what a beautiful spot it is. According to native Maori tradition, this meeting of the Pacific Ocean with the Tasman Sea is where the spirits go to find their final resting place. What a beautiful place it is. 
------------------------------Te Paki Sand Dunes------------------------------
After exploring the tip of New Zealand, we turned around for the long journey back to Honeymoon Valley, where we had a neighbourhood barbeque awaiting us. But first, we took a detour to the Te Paki sand dunes. It was a challenging climb, but well worth it to get lost in the golden sandy coastal dunes. And we didn't have to climb back down- we had our sand board for that!
------------------------------KariKari Peninsula------------------------------
Monday morning we set off for the KariKari Peninsula and Ma Tai Bay. As this was out of our way and we had to get home, we were undecided whether it was worth the journey. It was DEFINITELY worth it!
After driving down a gravel road for a few kilometers, we happened upon a beach with a boat landing and some people and cars. A five minute climb later and we had our own private cove- such a beautiful way to spend the afternoon. I soaked up some sun while Paul continued climbing for spectacular views.
------------------------------90 Mile Beach------------------------------
Again, we debated passing over this stop as we had already caught a small glimpse of 90-mile beach from the Te Paki sand dunes. I'm really glad we stopped though as it was exhilarating to chase the waves. They were a force to be reckoned with and quite a sight, sound and feel.
The other impressive thing was to see how expansive the shoreline was. It isn't quite 90 miles (I think it's more like 89km according to a coworker).
------------------------------Kauri Giants------------------------------
------------------------------Kiwi Spotting------------------------------
By the time we finished our kauri hike, the sun had already set and it was getting dark- perfect conditions for the nocturnal kiwi bird. We decided to add one more stop to the itinerary and try our luck at spotting a real New Zealand kiwi bird in the wild. We pulled into the Trounson Kauri Park and kiwi reserve, covered our flashlights with my purple scarf (not really a great substitute for red filtered light, but it did soften it a bit) and set out on an adventure. We walked along the boardwalk and through the pavilion, and not long after entering the forest we heard some rustling on the ground. We stopped and looked around and saw a opossum scamper up a tree with its baby on its back. But the rustling on the ground continued. I was just about ready to move on, but Paul brought up the valid point that since the rustling noise hadn't left or scurried up a tree, it was likely a flightless kiwi bird with no climbing skills (as all kiwi birds are). After a bit of poking around with the light, we spotted it- a real kiwi bird! He was just going about his business, digging for food in the soil. He didn't really seem to mind us much, and moved very slowly. It's no wonder he's going extinct- not great at avoiding predators.It was a perfect end to what (to me anyway) was the perfect kiwi weekend, complete with all New Zealand's famous; kiwis, kauris and coves, oh my!
