Touring East Northland, New Zealand

After a red eye flight to Auckland, we chose to camp our first night in the city. Just across the bay in Takapuna, our new app told us there was a campsite on the water. As we pulled in, there were sailboats heeled over, kiteboarders soaring over the calm water, and campers enjoying the day. We knew we were in the right spot. Unfortunately, the site was fully booked for the night. We received directions for another campsite in town and headed over to checkin. The other campsite was okay – there were good facilities but I guess we knew what we were missing. We spent the afternoon organizing our new campervan home and walked to a grocery store nearby. On the walk, we couldn’t help but pause to appreciate the nicely paved roads and side walks, the green grass, the crisp blue sky, and the neatly laid powerlines which was such a contrast to Southeast Asia. It was nice to be here. That night, we had our last meal out – which was at a brewery, Mac’s Brewbar, with our favorite foods! The following morning, we went back to Takapuna park next to the beautiful campsite to have breakfast before hitting the road north. When we arrived, we were excited to see free yoga in the park had just begun. We jumped in, stretched and took the opportunity to get in the mindset for camping in New Zealand. To top it off, as the relaxing hour completed, a classic DC3 aircraft flew overhead.

We planned to drive north for about 2 hours and stay in a basic campsite. But along the way, road construction took us on a hour long detour that bypassed the campsite we anticipated. As Will drove, I looked for another option and found a luxury site with wifi on a small peninsula in Whangarei and it had a lot of positive reviews. We decided it would be in our best interest to stay a couple nights and catch up on blog posts (not sure how we got so behind but I’ll blame some technological issues between limited wifi and supporting this website on iPads).

After a few rainy days (couldn’t have timed our break better if we tried), we headed out for our first hike which we will detail in another post. That afternoon, we continued our northern trek to Tutukaka. We visited Dive! Tutukaka to arrange a trip and learned about our first freedom camping location.

According to the locals, there are no local laws for or against camping at their beaches. It sounds like their law enforcement appreciates a love for beaches and does not bother anyone camping. Several of their beaches have public toilets and because we are not self contained in our camper, that’s essential.

Our first night in town, we camped at Wellingtons Bay. Our parking spot overlooked the beach which is protected from waves. The beach is situated to the west so we had a wonderful sunset. It was beautiful.

The next night after scuba diving the Poor Knights Islands we stayed at Matapouri Beach just north of town. Our parking spot backed up to the sand dunes but there was a beautiful beach just a short walk over. The beach experiences quite a bit of surf so we had the wonderful sound of crashing waves soothing our sleep that night. The following morning, Will woke in time to watch the sun rise over the crashing water and encouraged me to join him on the beach. It was a relaxing way to start the day.

Our adventure continued another couple hours to the north. We stopped at the Rainbow Falls. This waterfall is conveniently just 2 km off the highway and the carpark is close enough that it’s only a 5 minute walk to the water. There is an overlook at the top on the falls where you can see a rainbow if the sun is right (it was not right for us). Then the walkway leads you to the pool at the bottom of the falls. Will promptly jumped in to the cold water but I elected to stay warm. Behind the falling water is a cavern as big as a soccer field covered with the greenest moss and clovers you could imagine. From the pool, Will climbed the slippery rocks to the left of the waterfall. I joined him after walking along a path that crossed the rocks to the right of the waterfall that required me to crawl along a slippery ledge. Thankfully, Will met me to assist in my crossing. It was magical in the cavern – surrounded by the beauty of the falls and the green walls while feeling the cool mist hitting our skin. And we had it all to ourselves while the other tourist just took pictures from afar.

Our last night on the east coast of Northland was spent on Aroha Island Ecological Preserve. This small island is a Ecological Preserve because of the endangered kiwis that inhabit most of the land. The preserve also hosts a luxury campsite including a few cabins. This allows their guests to stay overnight with a chance to see the nocturnal birds in their natural habitat. Kiwis are very territorial and nest far apart so it’s unusual that this island has 5 kiwis calling it their home. They say in New Zealand you have a 5% chance of seeing a kiwi in the wild, but on this island the chances are increased to over 60%. That night, we happened to be the only guests on the island other than a group preparing for a wedding the following day which meant we were the only two interested in spotting a kiwi.

Aroha Island Ecological Preserve New Zealand Kiwi Spotting

When we checked in, the very nice Aroha Island Ecological preserve employees explained how to track a kiwi and the best spots on the island to see them. Around 9:30 that night, we set out with our red lights in hopes to spot one. We walked slowly along a marked path through the woods, taking our steps as quietly as we could. We had to listen very carefully for rustling across the floor of the woods which would be the kiwi walking around in search of food. At first, every noise had us on high alert, but eventually could pinpoint if they were coming from the bay or other birds. After about a hour of walking circles on the trails, we stopped at one of the “hot spot” areas and sat down on the only benches on the trails. Right away, we both knew we heard something but were still not quite sure if it was a kiwi making the noise. We held still waiting while our red lights lit up the area. Suddenly, a pear shaped bird with a long beak appeared right behind the bench! He was searching the ground with his beak while steadily moving forward. He came out of the bush and then walked along the path while we slowly followed behind. Just as he was exiting the path back to the bush, one of us stepped on a branch making a loud cracking sound which alerted him to our presence and he scurried away. It was awesome to see this unique creature on his nightly hunt for food!