Shakespear, Auckland, & the long trip home: Days 183-187

We headed to Auckland for our last night in the campervan and the last few days of our trip before we head home. We stayed at a regional park north of Auckland, Shakespear (named after a family that farmed the land and donated it for a park, not the writer) that was on a beautiful peninsula and a home to lots of birds (including peacocks), sheep, cattle, etc.

The peacocks were very curious and friendly.

The park had a lot of nice hiking trails.

There was a picture perfect veiw.

Across the bay, you can see the skyline of Auckland.

Part of the peninsula was a military base.

The coastline.

The beach at our campside from the track we walked through the park.

The morning we left, a herd of sheep were driven through the campsite by a few rangers on ATVs and one dog that mostly rode on the back of the ATV.

We then turned in our van. It is the one on the right, missing a hubcap. Not sure how that happened or if it was there when we picked up the van. We first noticed it the first day a few hours after we started driving.  

Our first night in Auckland, we were invited to dinner with Toni and Nick. We first met them in Rome when we were buying tickets to a Roma soccer game. We also saw them after the game when we were all trying to find a bus from the game back to the city. About four months later, somehow, we ran into them on a street corner in Sydney. They happened to be making a short visit to Sydney and were on the same street as we were. Very strange! We exchanged emails and decided to meet when we made it to Auckland. Toni and Nick were excellent hosts and Toni made a delicious dinner. 

Although our time in Auckland was very brief, we did visit a very interesting art museum.

At Albert Park, there were many nice statues and incredible trees.

A view of the Sky Tower from Albert Park.

We thoroughly enjoyed New Zealand. We ended our adventure with a long trip home. Thanks to the magical date line, we departed Auckland at noon on Thursday and arrived in Los Angeles at 9:30 Thursday morning. Tomorrow we have two flights to get back to KY; hopefully it will be an uneventful day. We can't wait to get back and see everyone!

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NZ6 Whangarei, Kawakawa, Paihia Days 179-182

Next we headed to Northland, which is the peninsula north of Auckland. We camped at a great department of conservation site on Uretiti Beach.

The campground

Uretiti Beach

Part of Uretiti is a nude beach.

Sand dunes between the camp and the beach.

The next day we drove to Whangarei and walked around the town. There were lots of carved poles near the library called Pou'that represented the different cultural groups.

We then headed out to Abbey Caves, which are undeveloped. We checked out three of the caves but didn't manage to find any glow worm grottos.

Rock formations in the fields near the Abbey Caves.

Before leaving Whangarei we stopped by the Whangarei Falls and walked along the river track,

The river track lead to a tree top track that had some huge trees.

Next we stopped at Kawakawa to see New Zealand's most famous toilets. They were designed by Hundertwasser.

Another veiw of the toilets. There are gardens on the roof.

Our next stop was Paihia. It is a cute little beachside town near Waitangi, where the Waitangi Treaty was signed. We wandered around the town, did a hike near the treaty grounds and enjoyed some fish and chips near the beach.

Cute little church in Paihia.

The Paihia Wharf.

Todd climbing a tree on the Haruru Falls track next to the treaty grounds.

Mangrove forest on the Hururu track.

Haruru Falls, a little underwhelming compared to some of the falls we've seen in NZ.

We spent our last couple days in Paihia relaxing at the campground, reading in the sun next to the water. Next we head south to Auckland, where we have to turn in the sleepervan. =(