Northland:

After leaving Auckland, we made our way North to explore the small finger of land that sticks out of the top of the North Island. This region is called Northland and is slightly less travelled that many of the other areas of the country.

For us, Northland represented the true beginning of our one year journey through New Zealand. We had spent all of our time in Auckland getting things prepared and set up for the adventure so this was our first time out of the city and our introduction to life on the road. For the first few nights on the road, it was incredibly difficult to relax and try to enjoy the travelling. We were anxious and constantly trying to figure out our long-term plan and where we were going to go each day. After a few days on the road, however, we had found our pace and we slowly eased into the familiar rhythm of travelling.

 

There is so much to see and do in New Zealand, that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But we began to realize that we have to take each day individually while always being mindful of the overall plan.

Once we had gotten into the rhythm of living out of the van, it began to feel incredibly freeing. Each day, we would wake up in new places and look out the window to see either a beach, a rolling field, a refinery, tall trees, jungle, or a park. It’s never the same. Everywhere that we go, we always have all of the things that we need in the vehicle, and with the limited amount of space, it forces us to live simply and only carry what we absolutely need.

Which brings me to the van. We only had a few days in Auckland to find a vehicle, and the choices were significantly more limited than we had expected. After talking to quite a few people, we decided to get as small and simple of a vehicle as we could to save on gas and minimize the amount that we had to invest in the vehicle. We ended up finding a Toyota Estima, which is what the majority of the converted camper vans in New Zealand tend to be. It’s quite simple, but it has a bed and storage for everything that we have beneath the bed. In the back of the van is an area with bins for our food and a small counter top for us to cook on. At times, the cramped quarters can be frustrating, but in general, we’re able to be quite comfortable and content. And, compared to a tent, the van is like a palace. Not to mention that it’s also wind and waterproof.

 

But of course, the real question that you have about the van is about what we named it. Well, his name is Ernie. I like to think that if Ernie was a person, he would be humble and not overly flashy. He wouldn’t be the coolest or the most athletic, and not even the best-looking. But he would be friendly and reliable. He wouldn’t have a ton of friends, but the friends that he did have would always know that they could count on Ernie if they ever needed a hand or someone to talk to. Hopefully that gives you a better understanding of Ernie.

Just like so many places that we’ve seen in New Zealand so far, Northland is beautiful and diverse. Everywhere that you look are rolling green hills dotted with the white specs of sheep and long lines of fences running off into the distance.

 

Some areas are covered in a thick mass of bushes and trees that are almost jungle-like, while other areas are completely open with fields and small groups of trees scattered amongst them. The colour of the grass and vegetation is crazy and the vibrant green seems almost electric at times. I’ve never quite seen grass this colour and when the afternoon sun hits it, it seems to glow, almost like a neon sign.

 

The trees on the North Island are also incredible (and Northland is no exception). The diversity is incredible and they are all very unique and singular. Okay, so I know that they’re only trees, but I can’t say enough about how awesome they are. We have driven by countless roads and tracks that are perfectly lined by beautiful trees, and everywhere you look there are gigantic lone trees standing in the middle of a green field surrounded by rolling green hills. It’s incredibly picturesque.

 

The problem is that all of these places are on private farm land so it’s tough to walk up and take pictures of them. But from time to time you can get close enough from a fence line. But most of all, it just makes the whole island gorgeous to drive and travel through.

 

Some trees are gnarled, twisted and old, and others are perfectly straight and slender. Some have droopy long branches that stretch horizontally and hang to the group and some have perfectly straight branches the stick out in every direction. There is also a variety of colours and there are bright pinks (yes, pink trees), oranges, reds, and greens. It’s tough to explain the variety and because I don’t know any of the names you’ll just have to take my word on this and believe me when I say how awesome the trees are.

 

It also doesn’t take long in New Zealand to realize that Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were filmed here. The landscapes seem magical and sometimes it almost feels like you are walking through Middle Earth. We often drive through areas that look like the Shire, and I half expect to see the small round doors of Hobbit houses built into the hillsides, or maybe for one of the giant trees to start moving and talking like the gigantic Ents that they resemble.

Another distinct feature of Northland, and the North Island of New Zealand in general, are the beaches. Just like everything else here, they are incredibly beautiful and also very diverse. Some beaches are endless stretches of white sand as far as you can see in each direction, some are sheltered in small coves and lined with palm trees, or gnarled and twisted trees that drape their long branches over the sand.

 

There are also beaches with pink sand, black sand, and everything in between. The beaches on the west side of the island tend to be a lot more rugged with larger waves more suitable for surfing, while the east coast has more sheltered beaches in quiet coves. The nice thing about travelling through Northland is that it is so narrow that you’re never far from either coast so you can see both coasts easily within a few hours if you want to.

 

Anyways, after driving along much of the coastlines and seeing many of the towns and beaches, after the 5 days that we spent in Northland, some of the highlights from the area were:

 

• Waipu Caves:

There are many caves in New Zealand as it turns out. Many of them, however, have been commercialised and require a tour through it and have an admission fee. One of the few caves that doesn’t have this and is still open for exploration that we have found so far, is Waipu caves.

 

It’s a little ways off of the main State Highway 1 that runs up the centre of Northland and is a quick walk to get to. You can explore quite a ways into the cave actually, but it requires getting quite muddy and a lot of scrambling up and over large boulder piles. There is a small stream that runs right down the centre of the cave and twists and turns so you have to cross the stream several times as well. The best part of the cave (and the highlight of many caves in New Zealand) are the glow worms. Once we had gotten quite a ways into the cave we stopped in a large chamber and turned our headlamps off. Above us on the ceiling were the tiny blue-green specs of hundreds of glow worms.

This was the first time that I had ever seen glow worms and it was definitely one of my favourite features in a cave that I’ve ever seen. It was completely mesmerizing and we sat for a long time in the dark looking up at the ceiling. After a while it felt like you were sitting outside on a pitch-dark night staring up at constellations in the night sky. It was so cool, and the best part was that there was no admission fee or tour required.

• Whangarei Falls:

Near the town of Whangarei is a pretty cool waterfall called Whangarei falls. It’s worth stopping and is a good spot for a walk or for lunch.

• Cooper’s Beach:

Near the tip of Northland and close to the town of Mangonui is a place called Coopers Beach. This was one of our favourite beaches in this part of Northland. It was lined with old gnarled trees along the back of the beach, the sand was soft and white and covered with different shells, and the water was a clear blue.

 

Even though it is right off of a main highway, it still feels peaceful and isolated. There are a ton of beaches in this area, and we didn’t have a chance to explore all of them, but of the ones that we did see, this was our favourite.

 

• Mermaid Pools:

The mermaid pools are along a section of the east coast of Northland near the town of Matapouri. You park down at the beach and then walk along a trail up and over a small hill to get to the pools. The trail can be quite muddy, but it’s definitely worth it. The pools are right beside the ocean but are in a crack in the rock slightly higher than sea level so they are perfectly still, even when the waves of the ocean are crashing on the rocks all around you. It was quite cold on the day that we were at the Mermaid Pools (and we’re kind of wimps when it comes to cold water), so we didn’t end up jumping in and swimming but it’s a cool spot nonetheless.

The beach that you cross to get to the mermaid pools is also really awesome and we spent quite a while on the beach itself.

The section of coastline in this area (between Matapouri and Whangarei) was our absolute favourite. We had planned to drive through this section on our way south, but ended up stopping and staying the night because it was so beautiful.

 

• 90 Mile Beach:

At the very top of Northland (and therefore New Zealand), you will find 90 mile beach. You might guess that it’s called that because it’s a beach that is 90 miles long, but that’s not quite true. It’s actually 90 kilometres long, but I guess 90 Kilometer Beach doesn’t quite sound as cool, so they fudged the name a little bit.

Anyways, this was the furthest north that our travels took us in Northland and we didn’t quite make it to the very tip of New Zealand (called Raglan’s Bay or something??). We also didn’t spend much time on 90 mile beach because it was pouring rain and very windy on the day that we arrived. It is, however, a pretty cool spot and if you’re willing to risk getting stuck, you can actually drive the entire 90 km’s along the beach in a vehicle rather than taking the road. At the top end, you can also do things like sandboarding and things like that.

 

Even though we are in New Zealand for a full year, there is a lot to see and we unfortunately had to bypass some of the sights. Some of the things that we missed were:

 

• Giant Kauri Tree (Lord of the Forest):

Along the west coast of Northland is a place where you can walk to a gigantic kauri tree called Tane Mahuta (or the Lord of the Forest). It ended up being quite a bit out of our way so we had to skip it, but it might be something to look into if it interests you. 

 

• Bay of Islands:

Although we did actually drive through and stay the night near the bay of islands, we didn’t explore it at all. It’s quite a popular tourist destination and there are lots of boat rides and things that you can do in and around the islands. We opted out of them because they were quite expensive and didn’t really interest us enough, but they are quite popular.