We spent the last 10 days in a completely different but still totally gorgeous natural setting. The diversity of landscapes in New Zealand over a relatively small area is really amazing.
We flew back from Queenstown to Auckland and spent a night there. The next morning, we picked up a long term car rental and drove about 3 hours into the Northland region. We stayed in a rural home near the village of Ngunguru. It is a home ‘exchange’ but the owners live a distance away on the same property, in a solar powered barn. The house was far too much for us, with 4 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms and a well-equipped kitchen. We chose the bedroom with this view.
The home is also situated on a kiwi reserve! People can have pets but are advised to keep them fenced, leashed or inside all the time. As another neighbor told me, there were no natural predators to any of the birds here, so they do nothing to defend themselves. All the residents are actively engaged in trying to trap possums, weasels and rats that might eat the eggs, and also destroy some of the local trees by stripping bark. The local Kauri tree is also under threat of a mildew that can be transferred through the roots, so any time you hike near them, they have stations to brush off and disinfect your shoes before and after.
On to the fun stuff - we were about a 15 minute drive from the beaches at Ngunguru and a little further north, the very beautiful Whale Bay. At Whale Bay, you have to take a short hike to reach the beach, and we also took a longer one through these strange topographic map hills, seen around New Zealand but very predominant up here.
There was a nice little city 20 minutes inland called Whangarei, centered around a marina and a lovely riverside trail where we went running.
The city also had tons of hiking trails, including some short afternoon hikes we took at Wharangei falls, Mount Parihaka, and a park full of ancient Kauri trees. That was my favorite, the ‘Canopy Walk’ that let you feel very much immersed in the ecosystem among the trees.
There are also a number of caves to explore either by tour or on your own. Many of the tours advertise glow worm caves, which would be very cool to see, but this one was accessible and free to enter during our drive up.
On Sunday we took a drive up to one of New Zealand’s top vacation destinations… in summer. Aptly named ‘Bay of Islands’ by James Cook, it is a famous diving and snorkeling destination. Even out of season, we saw lots of swimmers in and out of wetsuits. It was about 70 and mostly sunny, and I eventually convinced myself to go for a swim in the South Pacific.
The area is also hugely important in New Zealand’s history. We stopped in the first capital, Okiato and first European settlement, Russell, full of colonial architecture and now very, very touristy. There is also a big cultural site which we missed, the treaty grounds where England recognized Maori sovereignty.
Our last stop for the day was way better than expected, a winery that turned out to have gorgeous views, exceptional pizza, and a very friendly dog who adopted us as we walked the short trails through the vineyards and bush.
Speaking of pizza, I am going to write separately about some of our favorite foods so this won’t get too long. Now I’ll just close out our Northland adventure with a couple more beach stops on our drive. After this, the rest of our homes are not so spread out so we won’t have long trips, but this home exchange and the next are 6 hours apart, with a one night rest in the town of Hamilton.
Ngunguru
