New Zealand – Amazing Sites and People

It is unanimous – we all fell in love with New Zealand from day 1.  In fact, we can’t figure out why everyone isn’t already living here.

After landing in Auckland we drove north and took two days wandering around empty beaches and exploring random roadside hikes before we reached the Bay of Islands.  We feel like the areas we have visited are the perfect blend of the San Juan Islands, Scotland and Hawaii. Seriously, why isn’t everyone living here again?

We took a quick detour to the Tutukaka region which was an amazing section of coastline on the east coast of New Zealand north of Auckland.  The beaches were almost empty except for the local school kids on field trips.  We found incredible masses of oysters and mussels on the rocks which was heartening to see with the struggles facing our shellfish back home.  Campbell even stumbled upon a Portuguese Man of War.

We finally ended up in Paihia which is the portal city to the Bay of Islands.  This area reminded us a lot of Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands.   There was a nice beach and many small hikes and shops to explore.  Our motel was run by a super nice couple named Sue and Dan who’s family had owned the place for 40 years.  Upon arriving at the motel, Sue immediately gave us a small pitcher of milk which apparently is a New Zealand tradition to welcome travelers.

The next day we did a much anticipated visit to a glow worm cave south of Paihia. We learned quite a bit about the glow worm life cycle and cave ecosystems. It was the underground version of the bioluminescence we experience in the Salish Sea during the late summer. Nature’s beauty is often immeasurable, but here is an image to share a little of the magic.

Later that day, we executed a late night birding adventure (The Big Year style) to see wild kiwi in their natural habitat. We got to the Aroha Island Eco-Centre around 9:30pm and was greeted by Bob the local camp host who gave us some special headlamps and quick orientation of the islands “bird tracks.”  We walked around the island employing our best Explorer’s Club fox trot in the pitch dark while listening for any bird calls or rustling in the bush.  Those nocturnal kiwi were not out and about yet.  Then around 11:15pm we heard a kiwi calling it’s mate nearby.  We tried to track the location of the call, but our amateur tracking skills were not matched for this kiwi.  After 15 minutes we gave up and upon returning to the car, we heard the same kiwi call out from the darkness.  That bird knew he had beaten another tourist looking to catch a glimpse.  While we didn’t make a sighting, it was a unique and memorable New Zealand evening.