Northland! ...etc

Hello! It was a couple of weeks ago that I was fortunate to have a five day weekend for Easter, so a group of us traveled around the oh so appropriately named Northland, which pretty much consists of all the land North of Auckland. We drove up the east coast and stayed at an area called Bay of Islands for the first couple nights in the town of Pahia. We took a sailing trip around the bay which allowed us to hike around an island, snorkel, and kayak a little. Easter morning we walked through the dark to see the sunrise from a lookout point above the bay, 'twas well worth it.

Pahia, Bay of Islands

After we got tired of Pahia, we drove up the east coast a little more, cut across towards the middle just a little, and began the drive up the sliver of land leading to Cape Reinga. Cape Reinga is not technically the northernmost point of New Zealand, but it might as well be. We went up there for sunset and the drive alone was worth it, but the views from the point with the clouds and the sun and the lighthouse were pretty spectacular as well.

Cape Reinga

The next day we went Sand Surfing! We rented some less than stellar body boards from a gas station and drove to a place called Te Paki Reserve, where the sign read 'Giant Sand Dunes'! It was tiring and scary because the dunes really were giant, so it took a lot of effort to get up them and a tiny bit of time to get down them. Next we spent some time relaxing at Ninety Mile Beach (which just so happens to be sixty miles long), and although we weren't really allowed to, we drove our rental along the beach for 20km or so. Driving 100 km/h on the sand offered a surprisingly comparable adrenaline rush to that of the sand dunes!

Ninety Mile Beach

Last but certainly not least, can you make your mustache stand straight up? Well I can, and I think that means it's time for a little trim, yes, a trim.