New Zealand Part 1 - North Island

We kicked off our travels this year with a New Zealand and Tahiti trip. Since both New Zealand Islands are completely different and with Tahiti being a whole other beauty, this post is just on New Zealand's North Island where we kicked off the trip. We arrived in a time zone 23 hours ahead of PST. The slang is different and we had to get used to driving on the left side of the road. Along the way, we saw some of the most beautiful scenery we had ever seen and that probably exists as well. We rented a camper van with a bed and kitchenette and spent the night in holiday parks or at the beach, depending on where we were. One thing that we didn't realize about New Zealand was how much driving there was to do. We spent the majority of our time driving from point to point but enjoyed the beautiful views that the country had to offer along the way.

We surfed a few times on all sides of the island. Raglan, having been featured in the movie Endless Summer and the known surfing mecca of NZ, was of course something we really wanted to explore and we had one of the most exciting adventures of our lives there. Our second day in Raglan greeted us with high winds and blown out surf. We took a narrow and windy dirt road around an isolated coastal mountain just south of Raglan to get to a surf break that was more isolated from the howling wind. We finally arrived at Ruapuke to overhead sets and insane rip currents. The conditions weren't great but it was beautiful there and the water was warm which was nice since we had just come from wearing wetsuits being winter time back home in California.

The Kiwis are really nice. They are always willing to lend a helping hand and give you directions, food, whatever it is that you need. The country is very clean too. There was no trash or litter anywhere. It was really impressive how thoughtful and respectful they were to their land. There definitely was a much more communitive effort and shared responsibility to take care of their land.

Here are a few highlights from the North Island:

Bay of Islands

Cooking brawts for dinner by the lake

Spent the night in our van at Red Beach

Surfing Ruapuke in Raglan

Raglan Harbor

It's so pretty everywhere!

We stayed the night at a funky little ski lodge up in the mountains

At the top of Red Crater during the steep Mt. Tongariro hike

Emerald lakes of the Mt. Tongariro hike

Every twist and turn in the road led to another gorgeous lake

Hot springs in Rotorua

Hiking in the rain down to Cathedral Cove beach

Cathedral Cove Beach

Digging the hole for our natural spa at Hot Water Beach

The natural hot springs under the sand made for a nice hot spa at the beach

Heading out to surf in Whangamata

Mike surfing in Whangamata

Vacationing in a campervan was awesome!

A night out in Auckland