After spending an amazing week touring New Zealand’s South Island with small group adventure tour company Haka Tours, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I returned to explore the country’s North Island. Luckily, I had the opportunity to go back less than a year later so immediately booked myself of Haka Tour’s 7-day North Island trip.
Arriving into New Zealand at the end of 5 weeks spent travelling in Australia, the last 3 of which had been mainly spent travelling solo, I was looking forward to joining a group tour and the company it would provide but first of all I had just under a week to spend in New Zealand alone before meeting my group in Auckland.
Seeing as I’d be flying to Auckland, I decided to spend a night there before travelling north to the Bay of Islands, part of North Island I’d not be visiting as part of my tour, for 3 nights before returning to Auckland for 2 nights ready to start my tour.
Despite catching a relatively early flight to Auckland from Sydney, by the time I’d got through airport security and worked out how to get to my hotel using public transport, there wasn’t a lot of the day left so I spent the evening familiarising myself with the area around my conveniently-located Ibis Styles hotel and a stroll along Auckland’s waterfront.
The next morning, I was up early to walk the short distance to the coach stop near the waterfront to make the 3 hour bus journey to Paihia. Once there, I found my way to the YHA where I’d be staying in a private en suite room for the next 3 nights.
Once settled in, I took a walk down to the seafront and around the small town of Paihia. Realising there wasn’t really much to do in the town itself, I made a spur of the moment decision to catch a boat across the Bay of Islands to the town of Russell.
The crossing, passing all the small islets and islands which give the Bay of Islands its name, took only 15 minutes and after arriving at the picturesque harbour, I took a stroll along the waterfront and browsed in some of its shops before following the signs to the trail to Long Beach.
After spending some time sat relaxing at the pretty bay, I wandered back towards the waterfront to catch the boat back across to Paihia.
The next morning I was up early to walk down to Paihia’s waterfront where I’d be meeting my coach for a day tour to Cape Reinga, the most north-westernly tip of the peninsula. Our first stop after leaving Paihia was at the store Ka-uri Unearthed which, as well as offering a cafe and conveniences, sells furniture carved out of Kauri trees. Highlight of the store was a staircase carved out of a giant Kauri tree.
Next, it was on to the area’s 90-Mile Beach, a huge expanse of sand (and actually only 88km/55 miles long!) on the northwest coast of North Island leading down to the Tasman Sea. From here, we could see the Hole in the Rock, a rock formation lying just off the coast.
After leaving the beach behind, we drove the short distance to the Te Paki Giant Sand Dunes for part of the tour I was really looking forward to – sandboarding!
I had sandboarded before at the Lancelin Dunes near Perth but there we were given long, thin wooden boards to sit on and ride down the dunes whereas here, we were given boogie boards and shown how to lie on them on our stomachs as if we were bodyboarding in the sea and ride down the huge dunes head first, dragging our toes in the sand behind us if we wanted to control our speed.
Like with my first experience of sandboarding down the dunes in Lancelin, actually getting to the top of the dunes to start our descent was a huge challenge and it felt like for every one step I was taking up the dune, I was sliding 2 steps back!
Once at the top, it felt pretty high up and the way down looked pretty steep so it took a while to pluck up the courage to give it a go but after watching a few other members of the group give it a go and survive, I finally plucked up the courage, keeping my toes pretty much permanently jammed in the sand behind me as I went!
It was fun and I’m glad I gave it a go but once back at the bottom of the dune, I couldn’t face climbing all the way back up again and decided to spend the last 5 minutes watching the rest of the group sandboarding down, some at break-neck speed!
A lunch stop was next and we stopped at a local cafe where a canteen style-buffet was provided included in the price of the tour.
Then it was on to Cape Reinga itself, at the tip of the peninsula. Here, we followed the coastal path down to the lighthouse at the end. The coastal views along the way were stunning and looking out we could see the point where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet, a different shade of blue on each side of the join!
We made one more stop on the way back to Paihia at Gumdiggers Park, an ancient buried Kauri forest. Here, we followed a looped track past a giant Kauri log and through an old gum field with a recreated ‘gumdiggers village’ to learn about how the resin extracted from the ancient trees.
The next day, I was off to see another Hole in the Rock, this time the one off the coast of Paihia in the Bay of Islands. The boat took us out past all the small islands in the bay.
Along the way, we spotted dolphins and watched as they swam alongside us!
When we reached the Hole in the Rock, we took a few trips around it and even through it before turning round to head back to Paihia.
On the way back, we stopped off at Urupukapuka Island, walking up to the highest point there to see the view over the Bay of Islands.
Once back in Paihia, I decided to walk up to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, home of the Waitangi Treaty House where the Treaty of Waitangi, the document that establishing the British Colony of New Zealand, was signed in 1840.
After visiting the museum and exploring its grounds, I followed a nearby trail along the Waitangi River to Haruru Falls.
The next day it was time to say goodbye to Paihia and get the coach back to Auckland.
I had really enjoyed my few days in the Bay of Islands and was glad I had taken the time to visit this beautiful region on New Zealand’s North Island.
Miss Travels 
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