Days 7-10, Northland

It has been a whirlwind few days, but absolutely beautiful and a lot of fun.

Saturday, February 28, we boarded a Stray Bus to head to the Northland. We were driving most of the day but we made a few amazing stops along the way. We stopped to see a Kauri tree that was about 600 years old. We both hugged the tree, it is supposed to be good luck. So I guess that makes us tree huggers (pretty sure Justin has thought that for many years.)

Then we stopped to see a beautiful waterfall.

After that we stopped at a beach and were greeted by some wild chickens at the entrance. It was our first trip out to a beach since we have been here and it was great to see the Pacific Ocean up close.

Afterwards we stopped at a famous toilet in Kawakawa. It is the most beautiful toilet that we have ever seen, and I think the first time that we have taken pictures of a toilet. Another first!

That was our last stop before we headed up to Paihia, where we were going to stay for the evening at the Pickled Parrot backpackers hostel. Saturday evening we had a BBQ at another hostel and a few beers and just relaxed with some of our new friends. Jenny from Dublin and Heather from England. Gotta love the English!

Sunday brought new adventures as we headed to Waitangi to see the treaty grounds and the cultural heritage. This is where the Maori chiefs signed a treaty with the English government and officially became a nation. There is a lot of historical information and tradition in the area and it is a sacrad ground. We watched a historical video, saw a waka (canoe made by the Maori people) that could hold 150 warriers and 80 paddlers.

It was very detailed and impressive. They take it out every year on 6 February to celebrate Waitangi Day. Then we had some lunch and relaxed that evening.

Monday we were headed for the far North on a truck/bus called the Dune Rider. We headed out of Paihia around 7:15am and headed through a few small and beautiful towns before driving out on 90 mile beach to Cape Reianga. 90 mile beach is actually only 64 miles long, go figure! It was incredible to see beach for so many miles. The beach is an actual road way in New Zealand and all the typical road rules apply, you just have to be mindful of the tide or else you would be driving under water and that doesn't work too well.

We saw a fisherman who was hoping for snapper, but caught a bull head sting ray instead. Then we drove next to an old ford that was buried in the sand, they call that section the graveyard. Once we got to the turn off point, the only way out of the beach is through the quicksand stream, so we drove up the stream at a steady pace, wouldn't want to stop there.

We were headed through the stream to get to the sand dunes. They were massive sand dunes along the north side of the stream. We proceeded to get out boogie boards and go dune boarding.

Now, it is really hard to get up the hill, so going down is much more fun. You lay on your stomach and lift your feet up behind you to gain speed (you could also put them down as brakes, but that kinda defeats the purpose). John went up 3 times and Andrea went up 2 times, and it was so fun. The last time each of us went down we got a little wet as we went all the way down the dune and across the stream.

Once we got all the sand out of our clothes, we continued on our journey through lush green land and rolling hills. Dairy is the big business in the northland, so there were a lot of cattle roaming the land. Then we were off to Cape Reianga to see where the Pacific Ocean meats the Tasman Sea.

The point of the land also has a lighthouse on it.

The light is powered by solar power and can be seen for around 70km. It was a beautiful day and apparantly very calm compared to how the water is usually.

We passed by white sand beach, and it was WHITE! Then we headed to a Gum Diggers Forest to see the ancient Kauri trees. The gum (sap) is harvested from the trees and they use it for varnish and to make Amber. It was really interesting and they have kept that piece of forest untouched since 1932.

After gum diggers forest we headed to a Kauri showroom where they have a large display of wooden pieces and sculptures made from the Kauri wood. It is supposed to be extremely strong and highly saught after, but it has been over forested and now they are preserving the trees and trying to grow them throughout the northland of New Zealand.

Next, we visited a old Maori Pa (village) and got amazing views of the harbor and of the fish shop we headed to next for fish and chips. YUMMY! It was a neat little fish shop right on the water and you can see where the catch the fish you are eating.

Then we had about a 30 minute drive back to Paihia and we just relaxed for the evening as we were up and out early again on Tuesday.

Tuesday we met at the wharf at 7:45am to head on the Dolphin Discovery boat to go see the dolphins.

It didn't take us long before we found a pod of dolphins and the cameras were clicking away. They were playing all around us and after about a 30 minute photo session it was time to go swimming with the dolphins. We were both outfitted with flippers and a snorkel and after a brief informational session we slid off the back of the boat and into the water with the incredible animals. (I think I have said incredible too many times, but that's cool.) Sweet as... John was the first one in the water and Andrea was not too far behind him.

We both could have reached our hands our to touch the animals at various points in time, but you aren't supposed to do that, so we both obeyed. But we got very close to them and enjoyed our time with them in the water. The boat cruised around for awhile after that and then headed back into the harbour.

It has been an exciting few days and full of many new experiences for us.