Hein and Wil website: North Island

Hein and Wil website

Our trip to New Zealand and the Cook Islands 2006

North Island of New Zealand

As mentioned we arrived in Auckland on Wednesday October 25. To get over travelfatigue and jet lag we stayed a few days in Auckland and explored the city a bit. We enjoyed the many parks in this city and the Auckland Museum where we got our first bit of Maori culture. The many harbourside restaurants were also a hit with us.

Via the Arataki Visitors Centre in Titirangi we left Auckland on our way N north to Muriwai (Gannet colony) - Waipoua Forest and Cape Reinga.

From Cape Reinga we drove through the Northland landscape. Hints of its volcanic origin were everywhere. The Bay of Islands and the small historic village of Russell was our next destination. Here we stayed for a few days.

It's here that Hein went sailing on a square-rigged boat: you couldn't wipe the smile off his face!

Not far from Russell, in Kawakawa, a renowned architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser spent a few years of his life.

His legacy there is the local public toilets, smack in the centre of town tucked in between the other buildings along the main drag. An example what a good architect can do with such a mundane object!

By clicking on any of the photos a new window will open up with an enlargement.

Last updated January 31, 2007

After having enjoyed our lattee of the day across the street from Hundertwasser it was onward again: along an unpaved one lane backcountry road to the Goat Island Marine Reserve.
Around this island there is a wealth of marine life. A big tree on the cliff edge was filled with nests of Pied Shags. (see General New Zealand page)

Hahei and its nearby Cathedral Cove Marine Park held our interest for several days until we were almost blown away by a storm and we decided to move on into the volcanic centre of the north island i.e. Rotorua - Taupo - Tongariro

We had hoped for a good day to hike the Northern X-ing but bad weather prevented that. The trail is towards the other side of the mountains on the panorama photo. Yes, it was snowing there!
So it was on to bigger and better things along the Raukawa Falls to Wanganui. Here the first Santaclaus parade was already being announced. This town gave Hein somewhat of a strange feeling. His parents almost emigrated to this place from the Netherlands in the
late forties- early fifties.

But on an early Sunday morning we booked here in Wanganui the ferry to the South Island and decided to move on. It was raining once again.
Wil insisted on a short cut to get away from heavy rain and strong winds along the coast.
It got us on this winding one lane road, albeit paved, for a good hour and a half.
She was not impressed!