Boxing Day in New Zealand

Boxing day meant that the ghost town was suddenly full of people shopping for discounts. And so did we. First we made sure we got enough groceries to survive a few days. The supermarket was amazing, there was so much, we hadn't had that for a while. We also got a simcard, and in another store we got beach towels, gas, and much needed flip-flops for Susanne.

It was time for lunch when we finally had everything together. The lunch spot of the day was at the base of the Whangarei Falls, a nice small waterfall at the edge of the town. We really liked the care that was taken of the park it was in, it looked spotless, the people were nice, and it was for free.

After some nice views we arrived to the next stop. A small hike brought us to the Tutukaka Lighthouse which is located on the so called Kukutauwhao Island. Only reachable during low tide, we were actually wondering what the definition of an island is. While the lighthouse itself isn't interesting, the views are pretty amazing. And also the walk there through some nice little jungle was very cool.

It was getting late afternoon and we read about two free 'campings' for not self-contained vehicles/tents like us. In reality they are parking lots of which a small part is designated for overnight stays. Arriving at the first one of those, we learned that this small area was already completely full. The next one, Sandy Beach Camp in Woolleys Bay, appeared to be the same, but there were some volunteers from the district present that told us we were allowed to set up our tent right behind it on a patch of grass. That was great to hear, as it was right in front of a beach and there were public toilets as well.Read more