Auckland and Northland

We have finally arrived to the land of the infamous kiwi bird (haven't seen it yet though :(). After a lazy week in Auckland, well not that lazy, I guess, we set out for the Norhtland above the big city. Back in Auckland, we stayed in a very cozy hostel (well, more of a guesthouse), Bamber House with all the facilities that a tired traveller might need. Our main mission was to find a car and to get a tax number for Jenni, and as you might imagine, we did achieve it. Actually, it was quite easy as one of the guys in the hostel mentioned to us in a conversation he was selling his ride. Since it checked out, worked well and the guy seemed nice, we got a car (nicknamed: Frodo). The next day, we went out and bought a few camping necessities such as tent (A-frame for $30, so hopefully it will last), mats, pots, pans, cooler etc. With all that packed in our little Frodo, we started the trip.

Our first stop was the Waipoua Kauri Forest and the local campground where we started the tent adventure. The trees in the forest are humongous and have a mythical significance to the Maori tribes in NZ. After that on our way to the city of Ahipara, we visited the Wairere boulders which are the biggest crystal boulders in NZ. They are not limestone as the private owner kept stressing. Here we did a 2 hr hike in the forest and the coolest thing was that we were the only ones there. The views from some of the areas of the walk were just spectacular and it was money well worth spent. We also learned that there are 5 types of ferns in NZ, but only 4 of those grow in the area (thanks Felix :))(interesting or not? you decide :)). The next stop for us was the northernmost tip of NZ, Cape Reinga with its lighthouse which now does not need a manual worker to attend to it. It is being run from the capital Wellington. Where were the days that humans were actually needed on this planet hehe. On the way to the campground we stopped over at the TePaki sand dunes which are famous for local sandboarding. We didn't engage in this activity, but were quite exhausted after walking around in the desert for a while. That night we spent at a very cheap campground at Waitiki Landing (not Waikiki:)) which was infested with mosquitos, so after a night of mosquito massacre, our eyes had dangerously overloaded bags under them.

On our way back from the north we stopped over in Russell (also known as Kororareka) which used to be the capital, but it is more known as the "hell-hole of the Pacific" as all the drunken sailors were there. I tried some fishing off the local peer with my hand made reel :), but apart from making a lot of small fish happy, loosing two hooks, I got only one bite. So no dinner that night. The day after we ended up taking a tour through the Waitangi reserve along with the Treaty house, Maori song/dance show, the war canoe and a meeting house. This historical site is quite nice, but I think one really has to be interested in British history in order to get a full enjoyment out of it. (too bad we weren't there a couple of days later - 6th of Feb - when the Waitangi day (national holiday) was celebrated in remembrance of the treaty that was signed between the Maori and British folks. Big festivities happened in this area).

Our last destination was a small place in Bay of Islands called Tutukaka, where diving at the Poor Knights Island is the thing to do here. So, I couldn't resist and paid the killer price for a day trip with 2 dives. The cool water (21 Celsius) gets you definitely appreciate the warm waters in Thailand and Australia. Neverthless, the dives were amazing, so day well spent.

Right before Auckland we did stop at one more place with thermal pools, called Waiwera. It was not as exciting with the thermal therapy, the place is more of a kids' park with waterslides, however, we did took a few rides and get our adrenalin pumping.