We are back from our 10 day road trip around the North Island, and enjoyed a quiet New Years Eve here in Wellington. Below, is a map of our travels with each overnight stop labelled. Steve took his telescope along on this trip, with hopes of getting to some very dark and clear skies.
On the first day we drove north, towards a little camping symbol on the map, right on the west coast near Kawhia. By the time we got there, we were well off the main road and had passed some absolutely beautiful vistas and countryside. There was no clear campsite, but a general store/bait shop/petrol station with some grassy lawn and a little "Accommodation" sign. Soon after stopping, an older man came out, welcomed us, ensured us that this was the right spot, and said he was upgrading us for the night. Bill showed us into a 4-bedroom cottage style house, and said we were welcome to stay there for free. He said he only charges for the rooms when someone has seen it online and booked ahead. He was super chatty and nice, and in the morning we had breakfast in their little store's cafe and heard about all the great sights in the area. Bill was pretty proud of his website too, so here it is: www.kawhiaaccommodation.co.nz. Below is a pic of us just before stopping for the night. The lush green valleys were beautiful and sheep were grazing over every hill we saw.
We set out the next day and took the slower roads (= gravel, one lane, twisty) to see some of the forests and beaches Bill had told us about. We stopped in Bayley's Beach the second night, and stayed at a campground there. There's a Canadian woman who lives there now and has set us a business giving 'tours' of the night sky to the public, using her telescope and observatory. Steve had emailed with her and she had invited us to visit. The campground was nice and Steve even got to use his telescope that night. The weather was supposed to turn to rain the next day though, so we headed north. It was so rainy that day and we couldn't find a campsite anywhere, so we ended up staying at a hostel that night. The owners turned out to be a Canadian woman and her Kiwi husband, who had been running a backcountry tours in Alberta for the last few years. They had just moved back to NZ with their two young kids a week before.
The next day was clear and sunny and we headed north again, planning to stop at some huge sand dunes on the way. On the road to the giant sand dunes in Northland, we had to drive through some farmland. Cows were all over the road, and before I knew it, Steve was out of the car, arms open wide doing a flinging-swirling motion with his hands and yelling "Cobus, Cobus, com'on girl". I nearly cried laughing, but he just looked at me and said "What's so funny? That's how you herd cows." I have to admit, it worked!
Below are the sand dunes - absolutely huge and right on the coast, surrounded by forested hills and ocean. They are open to the public and people can rent boards to slide down the dunes. We just hiked to the top and enjoyed the beautiful views.
Later that day we arrived at a campground on the shore of the bay pictured below. This was where we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and the weather was absolutely wonderful. Steve got to use his telescope both nights - the sky that far north is really dark and Auckland is far enough away that there is almost zero light pollution.
Christmas morning (below), we woke up to beautiful sunshine and crashing waves. We did a 2h hike over a few ridges to get to the very northernmost tip of NZ, called Cape Reinga. When we got back to camp we went for a swim in the ocean and had fun playing in the huge waves.
Boxing Day, the 26th, we discovered we'd run out of stove fuel... the nearest place to buy more was over an hour away so we decided to move on, although we really wish we could have stayed there longer. We drove south, and before going through Auckland stayed at a campground in the Puketi Forest. We'd noticed that all the beach sites were getting very crowded by now, and we figured a campsite in a forest would be a bit less popular.
There are huge fern plants and fern trees throughout every forest - my Mom would love it.
Some of the many blue and white Agapantheses we saw...
Here's another lush mountain view... what you can't see are all the sheep on the hills!
Driving through Auckland, the traffic heading north was at a standstill - it seemed like the whole country was heading to the beaches, and we quickly decided that fighting crowds like this wasn't much fun. We drove around the East Cape area, which is quite remote. There aren't many big towns and shops can charge $1.75/L for gas (it's $1.40 in cities). But even still, the campgrounds were full. We spent one night sleeping in the back of the station wagon, and the next night we managed to get a spot at a very large and crowded RV/camping park.
A highlight for me was seeing so many beautiful horses in the countryside. We stopped at this one spot to say hello...
It was a great trip, but we are glad to have a homebase to come back to. After going through so much countryside and so many small towns, driving into Wellington felt like returning to a huge city! We both agreed that we would love to live somewhere smaller and more remote, but we'll have to wait and see if there are any job opportunities for Steve that are worth sticking in Welly for.
There was a short hike up to the top of the cliff where they used to have a WWII gun battery.
It was pretty hot each day and no shade for our tent. Steve kept his telescope cool using a white t-shirt. Almost all of the telescopes were homemade, and Steve got lots of compliments on his craftsmanship. 
Steve really enjoyed talking with Malcolm, one of the Stardate attendees, pictured here with his homemade telescope. 
We drove through lots of beautiful mountain ranges and grazing stock. The Wairarapa region is well-known for a dry climate, with dark skies since it is just to the east of a huge mountain range. Unfortunately, we didn't think to take any pictures with us in them... next time!
Below are the sand dunes - absolutely huge and right on the coast, surrounded by forested hills and ocean. They are open to the public and people can rent boards to slide down the dunes. We just hiked to the top and enjoyed the beautiful views.
Later that day we arrived at a campground on the shore of the bay pictured below. This was where we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and the weather was absolutely wonderful. Steve got to use his telescope both nights - the sky that far north is really dark and Auckland is far enough away that there is almost zero light pollution.
Boxing Day, the 26th, we discovered we'd run out of stove fuel... the nearest place to buy more was over an hour away so we decided to move on, although we really wish we could have stayed there longer. We drove south, and before going through Auckland stayed at a campground in the Puketi Forest. We'd noticed that all the beach sites were getting very crowded by now, and we figured a campsite in a forest would be a bit less popular. 
