Kerikeri

We woke up to beautiful blue sky and a view of a very nice beach and some picturesque rocks with the typical diverse New Zealand plants. Making it a good habit, we had breakfast at a bench at the beach before getting ready to drive off for another road trip day in Northland. While driving, we saw two chickens cross the road. We still haven't figured out why they did that.

Out first stop was in Oakura. We read about a possible short walk to the end of a peninsula with nice views. Unfortunately that was again only possible at low tide and we didn't want to wait that long. The beach there was still good enough for an enjoyable short walk.

Some viewpoint stops later we got hungry for lunch. Finding the perfect lunch spot was a difficult one but we are confident to say that we found it at Jacks Bay. We weren't quite sure if it was private or public but stayed anyways as it looked just too perfect with 4 chairs facing a perfect bay with nice boats, blue water and an empty beach in front. Right behind us there were some enormous gardens and expensive houses. We were just heading back to our car and while still joking about that this is our holiday mansion, we heard a helicopter landing right where we were having lunch just minutes before. Turns out the place didn't just look expensive but apparently is wealthy enough to afford private helicopters as well.

Our next stop was the peninsula of Russell. At the very top we went for a walk up a small mountain to Tapeka Point to have a nice view over the famous Bay of Islands. It was all so nice, Machiel had a hard time asking himself why he was born in the wrong country. While being known for not being a fan of beaches, he actually realized he wanted one of these New Zealand beach houses with huge windows and terraces facing one of the thousand bays.

It got later so we unfortunately had to drive further. We managed to get some cash without transaction fees, so we felt very lucky. Then we got even luckier with the ferry we wanted to take from Okiato to Opua to shorten the way. Arriving at the harbour, we saw the ferry full with cars, looking ready to leave. There was a STOP sign and we stopped for it, unsure what to do without further instructions. The car behind us then thought 'what are these tourists doing?', drove around us and onto the ferry. We followed them and when we parked the car, the ferry was already moving.

A short ride later we arrived just south of Kerikeri at a camping with very soft grass. Before having a delicious wrap dinner, we needed to get some fresh vegetables. This was an excellent opportunity for Susanne to get nostalgic as she spend several weeks in Kerikeri 10 years ago. Visiting the former Kerikeri Farm Hostel was nice and weird at the same time. The main building still looked the same with its orange trees all around that Susanne was treating when working here for a few days back then.

When going to bed later in the evening we discovered a sandfly problem. Hundreds of them were around our tent trying to get in, and when we went in at least 50 or so of them managed to join us.Read more