Northland

We drove a little bit further north from Waipu, stopping briefly in Whangarei. We looked for a fudge factory but never found it somewhere near the waterfront... We headed a bit further north – to Whananaki – which was about a 27km drive out to the coast. Again, a beautiful camp site really close to the beach. We managed to find the time to play for hours by the sea... In rockpools, along the sand, in the stream running to the beach (where we found shells – like the shell petrol company shells – and floated them down the river, helping them along the way), and generally walked the whole length of it. There was a great view out to sea and we made the most of it before we called it a night.

We could have stayed another day, but instead we headed up to the Bay of Islands and Paihia. It was a gorgeous place, the sun was shining and so we decided to stay for a few days. After checking out a nearby campsite, we opted for the i-site and then found the Abel Tasman motel right in the bay with a gorgeous view out to sea. We were able to catch up with the internet that afternoon, along with some mini golf. Although good in concept, without edges on a hillside, the execution of the minigolf was not great. It was super difficult.

The following day was a lazy one, a wander round the shops and out to the harbour to book a cruise for the next day. We wandered back and I asked the guy at reception about skydiving. He called up to see if they were going to go out again that day, which they were, and let me know they'd be there to pick me up in half an hour! I wasn't expecting that, but it worked out well as I didn't have to make the conscious decision to go for it!