An introduction to van life
The kick off to our campervan life was devoid of a gentle introduction, after our time in Stella's cosy home we left for the gravel roads leading down to our first destination: Whatipu (phat-ee-pou) Beach. This gravel road was a difficult first drive, with its steep descent, narrow bends, and uneven surface. Nevertheless, Geraldine is a practised master of New Zealand's frequently rocky roads, and has since taught me to handle them with ease 😀.
Whatipu Beach (5th Nov)
Despite it's difficult road, Whatipu Beach was a beautiful first campsite. It is a picturesque destination with a stark and unique landscape, that surprisingly remained among my favourite in the Northland Region, even after all of our travels since. We walked down to the black sand beach a short distance away, then celebrated our first night in the van with a bottle of wine and our staple meal - fajitas! The next morning we hiked the nearby peaks, and were rewarded with the stunning landscape views. Phoebe also let her rebellious side loose, and dragged me down the short CLOSED track to the Whatipu caves, much to my dismay at our blind disobedience! The campsite was hosted by a friendly lady, and she gave us some simple advice that has stuck with us since we left Whatipu nearly four weeks ago, as I write this. She said, "everywhere in New Zealand is beautiful, so don't spend too much time on the road."
This leads me on nicely to Phoebe's own profound realisation, that has shook her to her very core:
"I'm farting now instead of burping, maybe it's because we've flipped hemispheres - I've flipped holes!" 💩
Piha (6th Nov)Following Whatipu, we took the long drive back inland, to take another long drive back out to Piha! A necessary venture, despite Piha being just up the shoreline from Whatipu, as conservation efforts had prevented the construction of connecting roads. Piha is a small surfing focused community town, with a large beach, that features stunning views. A short walk along the beach, around the town, and a stop at the park, wrapped up our visit here. Though we stayed for only a short while, I managed to acquire a purple toe on the dangerous childrens playing equipment that was, evidently, not made for adults (by the way I did not learn my lesson, never stop playing on the swings people).
We settled at our first 'freedom camping' spot this night, which was host to a beautiful sunset from the top of the cliff face where we parked.
A brief stop on this blog post, to give you some background on freedom camping! Across New Zealand freedom camping rules are obscure and confusing, but essentially allow you to camp on any public land if you meet certain conditions. Freedom campers make up nearly all of the tourism of New Zealand, largely due to the limited public transport options and the rural environment. For us, in our van, the most important thing was to be self-contained. This meant that we sought a van with a toilet and two fixed 25 litre clean/grey water tanks, which would allow it to be a certified self-contained vehicle. However Geraldine, being the perfect gal that she is, went above this, with solar panels to provide us full off-grid electricity!
With our self-contained certification there are many locations across New Zealand we are legally allowed to stay in Gerladine for free, however, some sites do require a small fee to the local council or the department of conservation (DOC). Though we occasionally still chose some cosy, but more costly, campsites, we have been able to keep travelling costs down by staying at freedom sites. Freedom camping appears to be the essence of tourism in New Zealand, and although it initially generated some anxiety for both Phoebe and I (it feels vulnerable and lacks privacy), we soon found ourselves enjoying the community, liberating and environmentally conscious spirit of it.
Mercer Bay (7th Nov)
After watching sunset, we attempted to catch sunrise the next morning, but the mountains obscured the view. As we were already up, we set out early hiking the Mercer Bay trails down to Karekare falls. The weather in New Zealand is unpredictable, and we were heavily rained on during this hike, despite the forecasted sunshine! I have since learnt to continuously uphold the scout motto - "be prepared".
Scandrett Sanctuary (8th Nov)
Phoebe started the morning out dramatically, by getting Geraldine into a fight with a tree branch! This was her first drive in the van, she was very nervous and apprehensive, and within 10 seconds reversed into a low hanging tree. Fortunately, Geraldine came out on top in the fight, and suffered no permanent war wounds. Phoebe, however, was in tears and refused to drive for another few days, leaving this responsibilty to me for a little longer 😜.
After that dramatic start, we took the day slow. Eventually, we ended up at an art gallery - The Sculptureum. As we wondered the statues in the garden, Pheebs sipped wine and decompressed from her stressful morning. We were also both tugged into introspective moods by the quotes splattering displays, as well as the meanings behind the sculptures... Though some were less meaningful and more fun (hello lego man statue below).
Our day was concluded with chips at the seashore sanctuary Scandrett, where we would stop in our cosy van for the night.
We had a slow morning before setting off to Mangiwhai cliff track for a moderate hike along the shoreline. Thinking ahead, we had prepared a packed lunch, which we enjoyed on the cobble beach around halfway through. I also had some fun building a pebble tower, and having a photo shoot in front of the eye of the needle cliff rock! (Piccies below).
After our hike, we drove to Uretiti Beach, where we would spend two nights relaxing and enjoying the whole length of the Ruakaka/Uretiti beach. This beach was sparsely populated and everything you could wish for. On arrival at the campsite, we were amazed and delighted to discover that some campsites do, in fact, have hot showers! I made good use of these, after running the length of the beach on two occassions, one of which with Phoebe. We also relaxed in the sun, and I worked hard to acheive a sun-burnt tan, despite applying sun cream (ginger life). On our second night at the campsite Phoebe's Dad paid for us to enjoy a meal out to celebrate the 4-week anniversary of our arrival into the country, thank you Chris! And so, we hit up the local indian for truly terrible service, which was completely forgiven by the fantastic food. Fortunately, this was quite a walk down the beach from our camp, which helped digestion, especially if you managed to eat as much as I did😁.
Whangerei is the biggest town north of Auckland. After it had hosted us for free the night before, we wasted no time by getting up early and hitting the town - to go on our first trip to the laundromat! The large machines could handle all of my sweaty stinky clothes, and would hopefully keep Phoebe from passing out when close to me 😜.
Following this, we parked in the biggest car park we could find - the supermarket. I spent the next five hours worrying about Geraldine being towed away, as signs stated parking is limited to two hours... Though Phoebe pointed out parking attendants probably don't want to work on Sundays - fortunately, she was right! Whilst I worried, we wondered the Hundertwasser art museum, and discovered the art and ethos of this Austrian born New Zealand citizen. A man who predated environmental movements with his approach to life, and designed architecture found at destinations across the globe. A Maori museum attendent spoke with us here, teaching us about Hundertwasser, befoure touching on Maori history. The museum is one of my favourite destinations thus far, because both Phoebe and I were moved by the art of Hundertwasser, the kindness of the lady we met, and the ethos of the Hundertwasser approach to life. Thoroughly enjoying our visit, we stopped for lunch in the museum restuarant and meandered the rooftop gardens, before begrudgingly leaving to continue our day.
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