Northland

After some initial work to the van, we decided to test it out properly and head north...

Parakai

A short drive north we decided to stop at the thermal pools of a small village called Parakai. We pretty much enjoyed the afternoon and the heated pools before heading up north the next day...

Dargaville and North to the Kauri forests

We shared the driving this day, heading north from Parakai and up through a town called Dargaville (seemed nice enough but was cut off from the internet so we headed on). Our goal was the Waipoua Kauri tree forests which we arrived at, had a quick look from the lookout and then proceded to the DOC (Dept. of Conservation) campsite nearby and had a picnic on the grass. Later we went into the forest to look at the magnificent Kauri trees before heading back to the campsite to sleep.

Bay of Islands

Not having much time before needing to be back in Auckland for more work on the van we decided to skip the long drive to northernmost point in NZ, Cape Reinga, and head to the Bay of Islands instead for two nights instead of one.
It was a good move as the Bay of Islands turned out to be really beautiful and although a massively popular tourist destination it was relatively unspoilt and undeveloped. We caught the ferry across the bay to the small town of Russell and checked into the 'Top10' campsite for the night.
On Saturday we visited the oldest church in NZ (very good), and also the oldest industrial building (a rip-off so don't bother). We then took the ferry across the bay to the town of Paihia and investigated opportunities to go diving, walked to Waitangi, saw the impressive Mauri war canoe and meeting house. The meeting house showed some fantastic carvings of mythical creatures which I must say are the best wood carvings I have ever seen; the Mauri obviously still are very skilled carvers. We also looked around the treaty house which is where the treaty was signed in the 19th Century between the Mauri chiefs and the British government.
The next day we were up and went sea-kayaking early which was loads of fun, had lunch by the bay and headed south in the afternoon to a place called Leigh on the east coast. I can definitely recommend the Goat Island campsite for views and atmosphere - they have a fire every night and the view over the sea is really spectacular.

Goat Island

Monday the 14th we headed back to Auckland to have the timing belt done on the van and spent a couple more days there before heading back up to Goat Island to do our ill-fated open-water Scuba dive course.
Basically we still have to do the second half of it because Sarah had a cold and couldn't equalise air spaces because of it, basically a burst eardrum could have resulted if we had dived to the depths required by the course - but not to worry, we still have plenty of time.

For those paying attention,
Yes, for those paying attention I am adding to this article on Sunday the 6th of March - it's the early hours of Mothers' Day back home.

After Goat Island
So, after the diving we took advantage of the free time by heading back towards Auckland to visit a reggae concert we'd heard about from a person in a supermarket in Auckland a week or so before. It was a great little festival with some pretty locally famous reggae acts on and very well organised. There was even plenty of entertainment for the kids - a 60foot long plastic sheet (10ft wide) laid flat down the hill: a woman was spraying water down it and the kids were absolutely loving screaming down it and off the bottom then running back to repeat the process for the umpteenth time.
The next morning, after sleeping in the van in the carpark we headed back towards the highway and took in some Devonshire teas in a little tearooms (the oldest in NZ, Rich) in the morning sun. It was glorious.
We topped off the afternoon with a visit to a 'thermal resort' - some thermally heated pools (about 27 I think) designed for every taste. Sarah even let me go on the 15 different slides they had - wicked fun!

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