Whatuwiwi to Aupouri Penninsula

We saw an interesting looking place on the map called Whatuwhiwhi, a finger poking out between two large bays. We headed out there, and found a great holiday park. We were the only guests there! They have a fabulous indoor hot tub in a shiplap knotty pine house with skylights and huge houseplants. After a nice long soak, we had dinner and slept. In the morning, the skies were clear and we were ready to roll. But first, we had to check out the Maori canoe stored at the holiday park.



The craftsmanship is amazing. These were originally built from Kauri trees, which get absolutely mammoth (think Redwood).


I guess you get this face if you're loosing the canoe race!


Pretty windy! When it's calm and clear you can rent kayaks here.



We decided to check out Maitai bay, a DoC (Department of Conservation) camp on the very tip of the peninsula. It's run with a partnership between Doc and the local Mauri tribe. the area is very important to them. It's gorgeous...I see why! We were really tempted to camp here, but decided to move on.


Maitai Bay


Maitai Bay boat launching area. Wow.


Wait, is there someone in that beautiful Pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) tree?


It's a happy Jon!

After our little jaunt, we got back in the camper and headed to the Aupouri Penninsula. This is the skinny narrow point at the tip of New Zealand. The area is very rural, again with lots of sheep, cows, and forestry (again, tons of Monterey pines). There are numerous camps and things to do along the way. Our ultimate destination is Spirit's bay, at the northernmost tip of the island.



The dunes at Rarawa Beach. Rarawa is a DoC (Deparment of Conservation) campsite. We got out and explored for a bit. It's pretty windy here, and we'd be relegated to the camper due to blowing sand.



It's still pretty early, so after consulting the map, we decided to try to get to the northernmost point of New Zealand to camp for the evening.