Aroha Island

Driving From Auckland we went straight to our home for the night. The drive was uneventful until we arrived where we drove along a land bridge that cuts it's way through thick mangrove and onto Aroha Island, or Love Island.

The whole island is a nature reserve with fantastic bird life and we were staying in Fantail Cottage and it didn't take long before we could see it's namesake in the surrounding bush. There was no noise other than the occasional car arriving and half a dozen birds singing to each other which was entirely different from our experience of Auckland just a few hours before. The cottage itself is stunning, set amongst quiet bush with half a dozen well kept garden areas to sit in and enjoy the tranquillity. Inside it is a mini-apartment and the quality and space it offered was a real treat for us.

After relaxing for a while we ate dinner in the sunny garden, before following a dirt track to circumnavigate the island in an hour. We saw the beach, mangroves but best of all was the bush where I spotted a Morepork Owl. It was still light but wasn't phased by this despite being nocturnal and it came within metres of us, sitting on nearby branches to watch us as inquisitively as we were watching it (except that we couldn't twist our heads like it did!)

This was a great experience and prepared us well for the main reason we'd gone to the island. At night, with the aide of a red-lit torch, it's possible to watch the wild kiwi bird that live on the island. We geared ourselves up and headed out and within half an hour we'd followed one's call to a section of the forest where one had been seen by another guest on the island. It was now pitch black and we could hear shuffling in the undergrowth that sounded like it was directly in front of us, so we followed the noise and tried to see the kiwi causing it using our red-light, but five minutes passed and the bird had disappeared. We weren't ready to give up just yet so continued our search and we had another close encounter, but still couldn't see the bird unfortunately. By this point we'd been walking the island looking for the kiwi for nearly three hours and they were likely settling for the night so we decided to do the same. We were disappointed to have not seen a kiwi at all in New Zealand but given the difficulty to find them it wasn't surprising.

Waking up the next morning in our beautiful cottage to the sound of birdsong was a great start and after breakfast outside we walked to the beach again where the tide was still far out, but seeing it in the daylight again confirmed how beautiful the island is. We didn't feel ready to leave but did so to visit the Sunday Farmer's market in Keri Keri. We'd been led to believe it was sizeable but actually only had half a dozen stalls selling local produce so instead we chose to visit a few of the cottage industries that the area is home to.

Woodworking was the main craft of the area but we spent most time at Makana, a chocolate factory and cafe. Beth didn't struggle to find things she liked here and after we'd both sampled the chocolate and numerous gelato on offer we made our choices and enjoyed! "Some of the best chocolate I've ever had!"

Feeling the need to burn off our chocolate-fix we went to the nearby Haruru Falls for a walk along the riverside track there that led us to a great view up the river to the waterfalls. It was a sunny afternoon so it was perfect to be somewhere so picturesque.

Once we'd gotten back to the car we drove the little distance further onto the seaside town of Paihia.

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