Bay of Islands

February 23, 2025

The Bay of Islands is one of New Zealand's most popular destinations for good reason. It's stunning natural beauty.

The Bay of Islands is a region in Northland, on the North island. The main tourist town is called Paihia, it's about 3 hours from Auckland.

I took a 2-day tour from Auckland, with Cheeky Kiwi Travel, I am not affiliated with them. Auckland and Beyond is another option that I considered. Their tour was only 1-day, and it seemed unimaginable to spend only 1 day there. I'm glad I opted for 2, I would have done more!

Thrifty Tours and AATKings look like options to consider next time, as they offer 3 - 5 days tours.

Again, it would be so much easier if I were just brave enough to drive on the other side!

Kauri Museum

Our first stop, was to the Kauri Museum. Kauri is an enormous type of tree native to New Zwaland. The museum shows the history of the logging industry, that stripped the forests of these amazing trees to near extinction.

They have real historical equipment moving and on display. They showcase how the old pioneering settlers lived during this time really well. The Boarding house was very cool and felt like you'd been transported back in time.

I became particularly fascinated with the amber colored "gum" the Kauri trees produce. Gum was used by Māori for cooking fires and lighting because it's highly flammable. There's a whole gum room. I now own a piece I got in the gift shop.

Tāne Mahuta

After learning about the Kauri trees, we took a very windy road to Waipoua Forest, to see Tāne Mahuta, New Zealand's largest living kauri tree, known as the Lord of the Forest. It is worth the drive. Just wow. All 177 feet of it.

Tāne is the Māori word for man. In Hawaiian, it's Kane.

I keep noticing so many things in New Zealand are similar in Hawaii but just one off. However, the word for woman is the same in both languages - wahine.

From here, we continued on out of the forest and to the gorgeous coast.

We stopped for lunch in Opononi, a very small beach town made famous in the 50's by a local dolphin named Opo.

Pakia Hill scenic lookout over Hokianga Harbour, sandhills and the ocean. Ever heard of sandboarding??

Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Next, we arrived at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This is where the Māori chiefs and the British Crown signed the Waitangi Treaty, establishing a British colony while recognizing Māori land rights...or so they thought.

The treaty was signed in both English and Māori, but there were differences in the wording and interpretation of the two versions, and they both thought they were getting sovereignty over the land - which has led to ongoing debates ever since.

It's an important cultural site. It's location couldn't be more scenic. You can explore the museum, see the enormous waka tua (war canoe), and experience a Māori cultural performance.

A canoe for 200 people!

Māori Meeting House

Paihia

At the end of our first day, we checked into our hotel for the night Kingsgate Hotel in Paihia, (In Maui, our Northshore town is called Paia). It's a waterfront auto lodge, nothing fancy and also not too shabby. It did the job. A bed for the night. They had A/C and a pool!

Our group of 5 dispersed for the night. I headed down the street to find dinner, there were a couple of options to choose from less than 5 minutes away. I ended up at Holy Guaca-moly, as I'm from Arizona and cannot resist Mexican food. I got their ceviche and...lol what did I expect? I've never seen ceviche like this before.

Then, I headed back to the hotel, determined to go for a swim in their little cold pool, which I did.

Although, you could hear every voice in the hallway at the hotel, and every door opening and closing, I went to sleep pretty easily after a long day of touring and being around people.

Day 2

The next morning, I had breakfast at the hotel and checked out, before reuniting with the group. We walked down to the dock to board the boat for a 4.5 hour morning boat ride called, Hole in the Rock Dolphin Cruise.

The boat's first stop, was to the island of Russell, once known as the Hellhole of the Pacific. Some 700 people live here. Some passengers got off here and some got on from here. Our group stayed on the boat.

Then, we cruised around the beautiful islands. Captain Cook charted 144 islands. Good lord this place is gorgeous. Hello Universe, I'd like a friend with a boat in New Zealand! There were so many little places I'd love to explore. Who can resist an empty beach?!

We headed past the Cape Brett Lighthouse, to Motukōkako, the famous Hole in the Rock, and were instantly greeted by 2 bottle nose dolphins! I stood up to film them, and my hat instantly blew off, and then I dropped my phone while trying to get my hat.

I got my hat back and picked up my phone and aimed the camera at the water. I watched the dolphins on my screen and zoomed in. They were there I saw them! I got them! But the recording is not on my phone. I swore I had it!

I literally have nightmares about this exact scenario. I'm an avid snorkeler and have recurring dreams that I'm swimming with dolphins, whales, or sharks all around me and I can't get my camera to work. Then it happened in real life just days apart!

It happened on Maui just before I came. I was snorkeling on the outside reef of Molokini, and there were whales really close by that looked like they just might come our way - and my GoPro started malfunctioning. I would have died if they actually swam by and I missed it. They went the other way.

Just 4 days after this trip, a bottlenose dolphin ended up jumping into a small fishing boat at this same spot!

See: One moment, calm waters. The next, a 900-pound dolphin landed on their boat.

You can stay overnight in one of the 23 bunkbeds in the lighthouse keeper’s hut. It's accessible via an 8-hour hike or by water taxi and then a 2.5-hour hike.

On a calm flat day boats travel through the hole. There was too much swell when we got there. That's ok. I can live without having done it. I'd rather have swam with the dolphins!

From here, we headed to our last stop, the island of Urupukapuka, a recreational reserve. It's the largest island in the bay. We had 1.5 hours. Here, there are several hiking trails, you can kayak, swim, or just sit on the beach. I saw some rays in the bay near the dock. Surprisingly, there is a restaurant & bar on this island with no other resources. It's only open in the summer. And there's a tiny gift shop. Oh, and they have toilets!

My tour guide and the captain, told us that the island is uninhabited...however, I visited the gift shop, which had some beautiful artwork, and I bought another salve. The lady ringing me up told me she uses the salve on her bug bites.

I asked her if she takes the ferry here every day. She said no, that she lives here. What? I asked her, how many people live here? She started to count, and said 8. The others work at the restaurant.

Oh! Will you take a 9th?

The restaurant and bar on Urupukapuka island.

When the boat arrived back at the dock, we headed back to Paihia. We got back in the van and started heading back towards Auckland. I'm so glad I did the 2 day tour. Otherwise imagine driving to Paihia for 3 hours, getting on a boat for 4.5 hours, and then driving another 3 hours.

Nearly ever tour I took in New Zealand, made an ice cream stop. We stopped in Whangarei's waterfront Town Basin. What a colorful and unusual place.

We watched the dizzying Rolling Ball Clock, saw glass blowing, and peaked into whimsical Hundertwasser Art Center gift shop before getting our ice cream.