Where now?

From Whangarei Heads we drove up to the Karikari peninsula to another DOC campsite right by the beach at Maitai Bay. It was getting on so we only had time for a stroll on the beach before dark, luckily we love strolling on beaches. We woke to pigs in the field and a sheep that liked a fuss!  We started the day with a walk out to the headland, taking the binoculars to search for any marine activity but nothing to report. We managed to stay dry but it rained for the rest of the day, which was okay as we were mostly travelling anyway. We stopped for the night at a campsite in Pukenui, one of my favourite types of campsite, one with cats!  Next stop, Cape Reinga! The most northerly point in NZ. Before you get there you pass Te Paki sand dunes, a huge set of sand dunes as far as the eye can see. As the sun happened to be shining and the temperature in double digits we did a bit of sand boarding. It was initially terrifying but super fun when you get going.  After, we made it u...

We went to the cinema in Tauranga and saw The Salt Path. It's a film based on a book which there is now a big hoo-ha about! We liked doing something a bit different and avoiding the rain, we enjoyed the film although it definitely isn't as good as the book and it now appears the book isn't as truthful as it makes out.  Anyways, back on the road up onto the Coramandel Peninsula. This is somewhere that keeps coming up as must-go on the North island. We did a walk to Catherdral Cove and the weather took us by surprise, we both had way too many clothes on! The walk started on Hahei Beach and as we approached I could see dolphins. We stepped on the beach and there were loads of them surfing the waves and jumping out the water, some very close to shore, there must have been about 50 of them in total. When we came back they were gone so it felt like perfect timing.  The beaches are beautiful, Catherdral Cove beach has a wonderful big stone archway and a little waterfall trickling ...

We mooched around Wellington for a little while the next day, and had some awesome toasties at Fred's Sandwiches. Matt and I are big fans of anything which contains copious amounts of melted cheese. We then hit the road north stopping for the night in a free spot in Waverley. Free spots for the non-self contained are very sparse, so we're going to use them whenever we can find them.  We took it slow the next morning as we had plans to get up to the Mount Tariaki viewpoint for sunset, to get the best light and views, then wander back down in the dark. This meant we didn't need to start walking until about 2pm. As we got to the start of the walk we were very aware we weren't going to get the amazing views but thought we'd stick with the plan. It's also a kiwi zone so another chance to potentially spot one when we walked down after sunset. However, about 2/3rds of the way up it was pouring with rain, lots of the path was flooded, and there were lots of slippery roo...