Heading South

After such an amazing walk, I realized how much I had hurt my foot from “running” to catch my ferry. That and the fact it was torrential rain was getting me a bit moody, so I had a look online and found myself booking a night at the Kerikeri motel lodge with a giant spa bath. It was heaven. I ended up having 4 baths! I stopped at the shops before to grab some bath salts and food and drink I’d been craving. Pizza, snacks, and some zero red wine! I watched two movies, Jurassic Park and a Rom Com then some Friends which I fell asleep to in the big comfy bed. Ironically, I didn’t sleep amazingly, probably missed my bed in Vandalf! I did peek out the window a few times to poor lonely Vandalf sitting in the rain.

Finally the day had arrived to get Vandalf in for his repair, and after walking around for 6 hours whilst he was at the garage, and a nice $800 bill - we were at last, back on the road!

You’d think with all that time I had to wait that I would have made a plan for our next stop right? Well that would have been far too sensible. I just wanted to drive! Which is what I did until I got right down to Whangarei - in hindsight it probably would have been nice to stop and do some sightseeing on the way but I had a banging playlist going, great weather and just enjoyed being back behind the wheel properly. I had also booked my self a ticket to a show in Auckland with the Sober Awkard podcast so needed to get back closer to the city for then.

I did stop to see the Whangarei Falls which were, like so many other places, like being in a Lord of the Rings scene, with a beautiful walk through some awesome trees to get to the bottom of the falls. After a night there I thought I’d treat myself to a little hike so drove down in the pouring rain to Whangarei Heads. Of course, once the rain stopped it was boiling again, so once I’d made it over the hills and down to Smuggler’s Beach I did something I’d wanted to do for ages - I went for a swim! I stripped down to my undies, the beach was empty at the time which was nice and though the temperature of the water was a bit of a shock, it felt so incredible! I could have stayed in there for ages, I ended up going back in again before the challenge of putting my clothes back on and getting the sand off my wet feet. My mistake was also not letting my underwear dry properly and the hike back to the van soon had me shivering. It was one of my favorite walks with stunning views and some decent challenges for my fitness.

The show in Auckland was only a couple days away and I knew I wouldn’t be able to see everything I wanted to on my way there so decided to stay in Whangarei for another day to explore before heading down (to then head back up!).

I really loved this area of New Zealand, there were so many pretty walks even in the confusing weather. I hid from the rain in the Hundertwasser Museum which was one of the coolest buildings I’ve ever seen. I think every house should have a rooftop garden. Then spent hours in the Quarry Gardens the next morning before leaving. I saw Bird of Paradise (Sterlitzia Reginae) plants as big as me! My absolute favorite. I would have loved to have spent the whole day there but alas, time was fleeting and there was a show to see!