New Zealand North

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Had been a long time, we got a bit lazy...Our New Zealand adventure started exciting, on the first day we bought our new home, a Mitsubishi Delica 4wd, basically the same car we had in South America but a lot higher and made for off-road! During buying we made new friends with Rainer and Birgit, with whom we will spend Xmas! After a couple of days in Auckland, where I visited the university (Thanks to Dr. Mike O'Sullivan who really cared(s) about me), we made our first trip, Coromandel peninsula! Very beautiful there, The Far North, Cathedral Cave and Hotwater beach are worth a visit! Also the first nights in Jimmy (the Delica) were really comfy, despite to South America this car does not leak when it rains. After that we returned to Auckland where another visit at the university was scheduled, finally got a pizza at the place where i used to go 7 years ago! Furthermore, after long brainstorming sessions we bought a Sea Kayak! Next stage was Northland, the northern part of New Zealand! Since the famous surf breaks on the West coast where all flat we soon left Ahipara (after our first Kayak trip), where we spent the first night, and drove via the Ninety Mile Beach to Cape Reinga, very beautiful! The next night we spent at the KariKari peninsula where we witnessed a bushfire right next to the campsite! A lot of Motor homes were freaked out and left, we decided not to waste the 15 dollars for the night and stayed. In the end it turned out safe for us, but still two ranger died in the fire!

The following days we spent at the Bay of Islands where we made two Kayak tours, really nice remote beaches, and had a lovely time! For the following weekend there was a swell forecasted for the east-coast, so we headed to Taupo bay, a small village north of Bay of Islands. After a karaoke night at the campsite we know now half of the citizens of Taupo Bay ;-)! Surf was ok, we had a lot of fun tough and found new friends from Germany, Helge and Monika! Since the swell eased we drove down to the famous surf-town Raglan where we spent the last 4 nights and pretty much went surfing and kayaking every day, exhausting but really nice!

All in all we are really enjoying NZ and the fact that there are campsites everywhere and we don’t have to worry about safety so much anymore...

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