Northland, NZ
I arrived in New Zealand at 5am on one of these past days and still with no plans, picked up a jucy rentals van to explore Northland, the top tip of new Zealand North island, hence the name. The pick up process was tricky, not being able to verify my new zim without service, but I didn’t have service so i was stuck. without a sim i couldn’t contact the rental company to come get me, without a car I was stuck. So, spent 3 hours in the airport,, but once I picked up my van (again with issues with bank and lack of service!!!), we were off. Very tired from an overnight flight with near to no sleep and with no form of navigation whatsoever…silly me forgot to download google maps offline and my sim wasn’t working yet!!! (always carry an old fashioned paper map with you). I wasn’t stressed…yet, despite driving in a foreign country in a huge van but I just followed all the signs that had the word ‘north’ in it, onto the highway, off the highway, and soon saw signs for northland, when i knew i was going the right way i was at peace,, but once I left the city this soon changed. If you’ve ever been to NZ you’ll know their whindy, skinny, short roads are difficult to navigate, and coming from the flattest place on earth, Perth WA, I was well out of my depth. I think worse than being worried I was tired and almost, embarrassingly falling asleep at the wheel so I stopped for a nap, and then coffee and donut from a cute little stop.
My journey from here took me up the twin coast discovery route, the almost looped road that goes either side along the coast, to the point up at cape reinga. This way, you see everything on offer and don’t come back on yourself on the way home, exploring the way up and back in completely different aspects.
You can read in depth about my road trip in my van in northland in my Ultimate guide to NZ, but for now, here were my must do’s/ top spots and favourite sights along the way:
Cape reinga lighthouse, where the 2 oceans meet and the northernmost point of the country. also popular for sandboarding down the dunes at ‘Giant sand Dunes’, where the name speaks for itself. (loads of sandboard hire spots on the drive up!)
Tapotupotu Bay: I came across this spot on my freedom camping app when up at cape reinga looking for a place to set up camp for the night. I was honestly in love, it was so isolated, with the cutest little river inlet going into the ocean, protected by huge cliff faces on either side I set up my camp chair, made dinner from the back of my van and enjoyed the sun setting. There was just me and 1 other van, an old couple from NZ who invited me over for some fish that they caught for dinner. I could’ve cried i was so happy in this moment.
Waipoua kauri Forest: if you search up northland must-do’s on google, Waipoua forest will come up, as you drive along you’ll be greeted by a stunning tourist drive through the rich greenery and cliff faces that go on for miles, the biggest remaining section of kauri forest in Northland. The forest is home to many native Kauri trees, including Te Matua Ngahere, the largest left in New Zealand. There’s a tourist walk you can do here to go see it (like 100m of the main road), and i nearly missed it, till i looked up and Oh My Gosh it is HUGE… Like HUGE. Definitely a must-do.
Taupo: A very cute little coastal town, home to beach houses and holiday houses, a huge bay with rock pools for kids and so many fishing boats. The scenery is insane and the water so stunning I couldn’t resist a swim, despite it being a littttle chilly.
Hururu Falls: Blink and you’ll miss it, just of the twin coast discovery road, on the way home towards Aukland, is a very cute little waterfall. I didn’t trek to the bottom but the top was stunning, and someone was saying hey because I was treated with an incredible display of rainbow that at first I thought i was just imagining, Until i took pictures and looked back on them seeing this very vivid, bright and huge rainbow going into the falls, often disappearing when the water did and returning with the influx of splash. Be careful of the chickens here… they chase ya!!
Bay of Islands. if the name doesn’t catch your attention, look at some photos. Questionably the tourist hot-spot of northland, the bay of islands houses 144 islands, stretching from Cape Brett to the Purerua Peninsula. There’s so much to do here, dive trips, cruises where you can see the huge wildlife population from whales, dolphins, seals, turtles and penguins. here’s where i went for my dive down to deep water cove and some neighbouring islands.
Kai Iwi Lakes: This was a instinct turn off on my first day, as were most of my turn off’s to be fair (that’s what happens with no internet!). The road that took me down was so long I was worried i would be led to disappointment, but KAi iwi Lakes were far from that. A very popular weekend getaway for families and holiday hot-spot, the campground is situated right on the lake, where you can drive right onto the beach. being school term, and the middle of winter, I was the campsites only visitor that night, a free site meaning I left a donation of my choice. The landscape here, along with all the landscapes along my trip was amazing, a cute little hike the next morning and I felt super safe too, really the perfect spot I just happened to come across on my first night.