One of things we talked about wanting to do when we first thought about coming to New Zealand was to go all the way up to the very North point at the top of the North Island to see the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea meet and we did it! We timed it so we got up there pretty early in the morning which was great for the viewing as well as the driving. It turns out that the “major” highway that goes up there has a number of one lane bridges. Pretty close to Cape Reinga there is a very narrow one lane bridge which heaven only knows how motor homes and buses make it through!
Cape Reinga really is an amazing place with the seas meeting

which of course no picture can capture. There is also a stout little lighthouse

that has distances to all the “important” places (except it seems to be missing the Bay Area and Canby).

. There is also an amazing tree that as described is clinging to the side of a cliff right above the sea.

We then headed to the west coast town of Alphira to a beautiful hang gliding launch above a lovely little town next to a very blue sea.

. We were not able to drive out to launch because of a very funky road

But as it turned out that was not an issue because the wind was blowing the wrong way, again dang it.
The next day we went to the Waipoua forest to see the ancient and BIG kauri trees. These trees are not just big as far as height they are big as in very wide and have a living world up in their branches.

. You definitely get a sense of how old they are and the one that Roger is hugging is only the seventh biggest! It is also surrounded by other large ones. Major kudos to the folks in New Zealand who saved these trees and the ancient forest around them. To see them is a life changing experience. This was a great way to spend my Birthday followed by a evening and the next morning in the hot springs in Waitike Valley. The next day we went to the Waiotapu Thermal wonderland down the road and saw geysers, geothermal caves, rivers and lakes that rival Yellowstone in the USA. The colors were great!

This adventure was topped off with a stop at the Mud Pools that were great fun to watch and they made you laugh to see them burping that goopy mud.

Another attempt was made to commit hang gliding yesterday at the Rotorua site with the help of a great fellow named Olaf. Again the wind was not cooperating, being to strong and cross. The view from the launch shows just how beautiful this place is and we hope to stop back on here on our way back north in January.

We stopped at Huka falls in the afternoon to wash away our disappointment and cheer us up and watched the 200,000 liters a second of water pass through a narrow canyon. There is no way in a photo to capture the amazing colors, feeling and sound of this much water passing by. Truly astounding!

It has been raining and very windy today and after spending some time in the lovely town of Taupo watching a bit of bike racing and doing some shopping we are headed for the west coast to meet up with some hang glider folks to hopefully get Roger airborne at a coastal site above New Plymouth. We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we miss all of you! One last photo for now, the cool art that the forest makes for us on our walks.

We left Hobbiton and headed for a highly recommended hang gliding site on the west coast just south of Auckland called Kariotahi. It was not flyable but we got to see the Tasman sea for the first time and got to see one of the favorite Kiwi pastimes of driving cars and ATV’s on the beach.
We headed north of Auckland that afternoon on our quest to the far north of the north island.
We had some names of places to head to and were vaguely heading to the Tawharanui Reserve. (thanks Chris) After being just a little lost during a brief rain shower we asked “Siri” the Apple Mac Wonder voice. The way she directed us took us almost there but told us we had destinated when we obviously had not. We went a little further to turn round and found a beautiful park right next to the water where camping was allowed, so we parked the camper went for a walk around the bay and stayed there the night.

The next morning Debbie navigated us to the Tawharanui Reserve where we went for a nice hike out to the headland and learnt a lot about Kiwis and other native birds. They have camping here that looks great and we will stay here on our way south if the timing is right.

Heading north again we headed for Waipu just south of Whangerei where we had heard about some caves with glow worms.

We did not venture very far in but we did stay long enough for our eyes to adjust and see some glow worms. Pretty interesting, like looking at the night sky inside a cave.

Further north in Whangerei we met up with some hang glider pilots at the Clapham Clock Museum which had an amazing collection of clocks. Herman and Guntram took us to their local site but flying was not to happen again that day as the wind was the wrong direction and gusty but as you can see it would be a beautiful place to fly.

Heading north again we stopped the night in Whananaki at a DOC campground at a beach at the end of the road. Some children had obviously had a grand day building rafts and things.

The town of Russell in the Bay of Islands was on our agenda where we learnt some interesting history about New Zealand at the museum.

After Russell we had a campsite booked at Arola Island reserve. This was an amazing place where we camped beneath a P……. Tree next to the water complete with a swing.

The highlight was taking a night tour with one of the islands caretakers and sighting a 30 year old Kiwi and a Kiwi chick (a rare sighting because this is the first time they have had chicks born there). (No pictures available as it would scare them off)

Continuing north we stopped for the night at Puheke beach on the far north of the Karikari peninsula. This miles long beach was deserted and we had a wonderful evening there exploring the nooks in the rocks and relaxing.

We are now heading north for Cape Rainga where the Tasman sea and the South Pacific meet .

Will post a gallery of some of our amazing camping spots.