Northland Road Trip Part I: Auckland to Bay of Islands

Northland Road Trip

For the Easter 4-day weekend, Mac, our flatmate Cristina, and I rented a car and headed north! For our Northland road trip, we had a rough idea of what we wanted to see and where we wanted to go, but we had no strict plans or agendas, and honestly? It was absolutely, 100% amazing!! We stopped whenever and wherever we wanted and spent the driving time jamming to Taylor Swift (sorry, Mac!). We packed so much into 4 days that this is just part I of III from our Northland road trip! Get ready!

We left Auckland on Friday morning and stopped on our first side-trip just a short while later, in Whangarei (traffic was not so forgiving as we headed up State Highway 1 on the first morning of an extra long weekend!)

Whangarei

This city is about 2/3 of the way up to Bay of Islands on the east side of Northland, and it’s the biggest city in the Northland region in New Zealand! We skipped the city sites for something a little more natural though: caves & waterfalls!

Abbey Caves

Not far from the town centre are the Abbey Caves. A 1.3km loop walk takes you to (and through!) the three limestone caves: Organ Cave, Middle Cave, & Ivy Cave. It had rained recently, so the caves were full of rushing water preventing us, and our non-waterproof footwear from entering too far inside.

We were able to explore Middle Cave more than the other two, and I’m sure glad we brought our headlamps – it got dark FAST in there!

Whangarei Falls

Just a short drive from the Abbey Caves are Whangarei Falls. This 26m cascade was full of onlookers, and for good reason! It’s pretty stunning!

There’s a circular loop walk that takes you from the top of the falls to the base where you get a very misty experience! Cristina and I had fun doing the loop walk while Mac very generously prepared lunch for us! (What a guy!)

Oakura

Never ones to turn down a trip to the beach, as soon as we saw the sign for Oakura, we made the easy decision to check it out. There’s something about beaches that are just so uplifting & calming. Oakura did not disappoint, and it was an awesome place to have a short break from driving.

Whangamumu

(Are you getting a kick out of trying to pronounce these Maori names?? Here’s a tip, “wh” is pronounced “f”).

Our last side trip before our final stop was heading out to near Rawhiti on the east coast to the Whangamumu Track. This track is part of the well-known Cape Brett Track (an 8 hour, 16km track to the outer reaches of the peninsula), but we only hiked for about 30 minutes. We went as far as the Whangamumu Scenic Reserve where we were rewarded with a great view of the harbour below. I’d sure like to spend a day (or 10) in one of those nice boats!!

After our hike, we headed back to the car one last time for the final (and thankfully quick!) jaunt to Russell where we stayed with Mac’s parents (who were renting an apartment for the month there!). Stay tuned for Part II!

Day One Figures

Distance Driven: 299.3km

Left Auckland at 9:30am.

Arrived in Russell at 7:00pm-ish.