Our Travelling SHANanigans: The Northlands

The Northlands

August 13, 2012 – Orewa
We left Hamilton mid-morning and made the 3.5 hour journey North to a small town called Orewa, just past Auckland on the East coast of the Northlands. A pit stop was necessary in Auckland to get a leak fixed in the camper van. Turned out to be a lose PT valve, and we were on our way in less than 20 minutes.

Orewa has great beaches so Laura and I had several nice walks/runs along the water. We stayed in the Top 10 Holiday Park which had good shared facilities. This was the busiest camp ground we had seen, and likely due to the proximity to Auckland. If you’re staying here during the spring/summer/fall then book ahead!

Also try out the fish and chips at Kippers on main street.

August 14 & 15, 2012 – Paihia

The camper continued North for a couple hours and took us to the Bay of Islands. Jeff and Jess were just starting their New Zealand Stray bus tour so we coordinated a visit in the town of Paihia. The four of us were able to compare notes on our trip to the South Island and J&J’s visit to the Coromandel peninsula… Tourist traps, hidden secrets etc.

Laura and I took off to Russell on the 10min ferry on the first afternoon. Russell was one of the first locations settled by Europeans, and quickly became a cesspool for pirates, thieves, and whores (or at least that’s how I pictured in my head). A couple hundred years has passed and Russell developed the town into a very pleasant and quiet holiday destination. From the looks of things, this is a popular spot for tourists to enjoy from the streets, and for Auckland’s rich to enjoy from their $4,000,000+ Victorian style homes while sipping on a 2004 Central Otago Pinot Noir (apparently a good year). We strolled through the town center, walked up to a look-out, and then headed back to the Camper via the ferry. A night in Russell was not in the budget ;)

August 16, 2012 – Cape Reinga

Another long day of driving took us up to the most Northern tip of the North Island to a spot called Cape Reinga. On the way to the Cape we made an interesting stop at what first looked like a lumber yard. The Ancient Kauri Kingdom is home to some special Kauri trees. The Kauri is one of the Native New Zealand hard wood trees, and can grow to be several thousand years old. These Kauri trees were dug up from a Northland bog, and have been almost perfectly preserved. Look up the “Ireland Bog People”, and you can see a similar version of the preservation process; but with people. The trees have been carbon dated and can be between 40000 to 100000 years old. The trees are also huge, as you can see by the bench and stairwell carved from a single piece:

Cape Reinga is certainly a touristy location and a frequent stop for any Northland tours but it is unique and worth a visit. Here, currents from the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet to create some a bunch of random wave oscillations that will look like turbulence, but form a line of white caps projecting from the tip of the Island:

August 17, 2012 – 90 Mile Beach and more Kauri Forest

We made a brief stop in to see the 90 Mile beach [actually only about 76 miles]. Camper vans are ‘prohibited’ but I’m sure we would have managed just fine. The only “insured” method to drive the length of the beach is via a bus tour. I’m writing this post having returned the van (and received the deposit), so I can safely say the camper has successfully made many river crossings and over some difficult off road tracks. I’m certain we could have navigated seventy-six mile beach ... errr *ninety mile beach.

A couple more Kauri trees from the Waipoua Forest. Tough windy drive!