It's Friday here, and we're in our second week of the new school year. The Adorables seem quite happy with their teachers and classrooms, though both kids were too tired to continue with life this morning. Unfortunately for them, Mom's mean and even tired kids have to go school in this house. So that's where they are. :)
The Adorable Girl was telling me how her teacher assigned everyone's favorite back-to-school writing topic this week, "What did you do over summer break?" The girl wrote, in blue pen by the way (seniors don't need a pen license ;) four whole pages about our many summer adventures. Which got me thinking -- what did we do over summer break that I haven't told you guys about yet?
No shocker, we did a TON of stuff over our six-week break, from entertaining extra kids and neighbors at home to traveling to the Bay of Plenty, which I did post about here. We also took a trip to the far reaches of the North Island, including a place considered by some to be New Zealand's Mecca. There was a lot of driving involved -- so you know it wasn't all fun and games for my roadtrip-adverse family. But boy was this place stunning. :)
First stop: Whangarei
My wonderful husband plans most of our travels, and he does a good job accommodating the kids' and my hatred of riding in the car. (We're total wimps about it, all three of us. I know it's ridiculous, and it drives Shane crazy ;)
Me in the car
So we started our trip with an overnight stop in Whangarei, just 2 hours from Auckland. We had been to Whangarei before on a weekend trip last year. I apparently didn't write about it, probably because we found the area to be somewhat so-so. The beaches were fine; the town itself kind of small, one of those NZ towns that close down by 6 p.m. We didn't particularly love it, didn't hate it. And I think we had the same experience this time around.
But we DID stop at a really neat natural attraction on the way out of town, Whangarei Falls.
This amazing waterfall is in the middle of a neighborhood, just meters from a carpark and toilet. (Look how Kiwi my lingo is getting, bro ;) And I mean, wow, right? Beautiful!
I made a grumpy Adorable Boy walk all the way down the steep path to gaze up at nature's majesty. And then I had to carry him all the way back up -- which garnered a lot of interesting looks from the tourists we passed on the way. When we finally got back to the top, the boy had the nerve to complain about how his legs had fallen asleep from me carrying him. (Insert "wring-the-neck" motion here).
Still worth it. :)
Next stop: Waitangi Treaty Grounds
Apparently I only took one picture here. Sorry :(
After our stop at the waterfalls, we drove another hour and a half north to the Bay of Islands. You may have heard of this area, a famous tourist spot in New Zealand that, no surprise, is incredibly beautiful. We didn't get to spend a lot of time exploring here though, as we came with one mission: to visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
The treaty grounds are incredibly important to the New Zealand people. It's here that Maori tribes signed an agreement with British diplomats, essentially creating New Zealand as we know it. It's an event comparable (though completely opposite) of the signing of our Declaration of Independence.
The history's a bit complicated to really summarize in a few sentences, and it's not without controversy. Some Maori still protest the Waitangi Treaty signing -- which happened 179 years ago -- arguing that the translation from English into te reo deceived tribal leaders.
I don't know enough about the history and sensitivities to really speak to all of that. But I can say that the grounds and museum are beautiful, informative and sufficiently sacred. We felt honored to be standing on the land where this significant historical event took place. And the tour guides and Maori performers were top notch, really great at explaining the event, what led up to it and what it accomplished. 10/10. Highly recommend.
Next stop: Karikari Peninsula
After our history lesson, we drove north, on and on (and on and on) to the Karikari Peninsula, a tiny little piece of land that wraps around Doubtless Bay, nearly to the top of the North Island. Here we set up home for the week in a great little rental on the Whatuwhiwhi (faw-two-fee-fee) beach. This place is gorgeous, with white-sand beaches, rolling green hills, very small towns, bunches of cows and boats ... and not much else. Perfect for us, as we spent our days doing our favorite thing: playing at the beach :)
One beach worth mentioning is Maitai Bay, a beautiful, sheltered bay just a short drive from where we stayed. This place has perfect boogie-boarding surf (some days) and amazing tide pools, with shrimp and crabs and starfish and all kinds of sealife crittering around. It's really special, and considered by many to be one of NZ's best beaches.
Don't miss the boy looking through his goggles, haha
Last stop: Cape Reigna
Finally, the main event of our Northland "tiki tour" (that's "roadtrip" in Kiwi lingo ;) -- Cape Reigna.
The northernmost point of New Zealand's North Island -- that is, the most accessible northernmost point -- holds sacred significance for the Maori people. They believe Cape Reigna to be where spirits of the deceased depart for their ancestral home of Hawaiki. It's also where two oceans -- the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean -- meet in this awesome bubbling, swirling, coming together of bright-blue and sea-green waters.
You've most likely seen a picture of Cape Reigna, particularly the lighthouse:
Look familiar? Thought so. Quite beautiful. Quite iconic. ...Heckuva drive to get there -- about 1.5 hours through no-man's land. And I mean, NO MAN.
But that's why they call it NZ's Mecca, a difficult journey every Kiwi should make a least once. So, we did. Done and dusted -- and probably won't do it again. (Did I mention how bad we are at roadtrips?? :)
Well that's a look at our trip to the Northland, a beautiful part of New Zealand I would highly recommend spending some time in. Especially if your family likes riding in the car (who are you people??). You'll LOVE it :)
