The Northland Region - Whangarei, NZ

This is the beginning of our nine day adventure in the Northland Region of New Zealand.  The Maori call this region Te Tai Tokerau, which means the Tail of the Fish.  It is the least urbanized area of the country and is covered mostly by forests and animal farming.  We started on the east coast which is more rugged and dotted with peninsulas and islands.  

Our first stop was in Whangarei (pronounced 'Fungaday') which is the largest city with a population of just over 55K.  The forests in the north contain the massive Kauri trees which are very spiritual for the Maori people. Unfortunately many of the trees were felled in the 19th century.  The forests feel like dense wet jungles and have many hidden rivers and waterfalls.  

AH Reed Memorial Kauri Park - Whangarei, NZ

The Whangarei Falls

  
We tried out our paddle boards in Whangaumu Bay and its tributary near Ngunguru.  We figured it would be gentler than the open ocean but the current was still quite strong so we spent some time walking the boards.

Walking on the sandbar surrounding the bay fuelled the imagination of the kids and we spent much of the afternoon playing various forms of hide and seek in the dunes.  

Then we found our first opportunity to surf.  Our last time surfing was on our honeymoon so we started with a refresher family course for 2 hours in Sandy Bay 20 minutes up the coast.  We all managed to stand up although not very gracefully!  Naysa preferred to boogie board closer to shore.