The million dollar view and some beach fun in Whangarei

The greenest greens, the bluest blues.
Rivers meet the sea. Farmland till your eyes can see.  
Waves hit the rocks, surfers hit the waves.
Tides come, tides go. 
​Boats set sail. Shells line up. Stars shine bright. 
And the sun paints the sky with the colours of the rainbow.

Whangarei. Your fresh air makes our skin glow. :)

This is basically it when I want to sum up the last few days spent in Whangarei. Found the perfect spot to relax and soak up with energy and the breathtaking surroundings. Just the regular stuff. Watch some surfers, pick shells, go fishing and eat fresh fish, enjoy the smells of the farm and the belly warming feeling of the electric fence while checking out some cows... ;)

Whangarei is about 160 km North of Auckland. The setting is amazing. We decided to get away and spend some days in a private cabin in the middle of nowhere. 

We definitely found the million dollar view. This is how it looked like from the top of the hill. Have to admit, pretty relaxing to see this first and last thing in the morning and at night straight from your bed. Peaceful, quiet, and the wind brings all the way up the smell of the sea (and ok, some of the so unique freshness of the farmland, too :D). So vacation mode!

Constantly changing estuaries, abundantly filling up with water, then letting all the water flow with the low tide. ​Who knows where, but doesn't really matter. It's just so relaxing to watch the ever changing scenery and the cycles of nature. The view up is high tide, and below the low tide. You could actually go down and walk through the mud and cross to the other side :) Not bad for fishing or looking for sting ray holes, either.

And this was the moment when we realised the neighbours were on the next hill. :) Every once in a while, there is a "street party" when everyone gets together, as we got to know. The concept of the street, I know, you make me wonder, too :) ​

Lazy cows chilling... this picture was taken before getting lost in the moment and forgetting about the electric fence... ouch! :) Better not test it with hands!
And some white stony mountains in the pink sunset... oh no, sorry, just sheep again :) 

And that almost unreal pink sunset...

Driving through the land made us feel like in a green wonderland. Incredibly green, especially when the sun shines on the grass. So typically New Zealand! Hilly farmlands, rocky mounts, sandy coastlines side by side. A piece of paradise.  

Peninsulas, harbours, beaches one after the other. This was the scenery on one of the popular tracks, the Smugglers Bay Loop Track, while crossing some bush, farmland, and descending from the hill to this spectacular beach.

The next little adventure was discovering Pataua. We crossed the famous footbridge from South to North, checked out some local fishing skills, wondered at the beautiful bay views...

Couldn't walk past that shell perspective...

Loved these boards, too. Says so much about the local feelings :)

Some sea art inspiration.

And finally made our way to the wild ocean front. Could catch some surfers enjoy the last waves before the setting sun... I wouldn't say it was hard to find an empty spot on the beach... Apart from squeezing in between some shells :) And oh that view!!!

Talking about crowded beaches, we found another gem. Forgot the name. You can access it only through a campsite. There is this big rock there... with the low tide, the reflections were just jaw-dropping. And walking on water suddenly becomes really possible :) We were the only ones on this beach.

Spending some days in pure nature was extremely rewarding again. Nature always soothes the soul and makes you reconnect. To whatever you want. It empowers. This is something you can't experience in the city. It's the power of nature. 

​I didn't have the chance to capture the totally dark sky and the super bright stars at night, what was simply just amazing, especially with the coming of the new moon and the Maori New Year, Matariki. But what I did is allowed myself to enjoy some cozy moments by the fire, and watched those stars shining bright upon my head in the chilly winter nights...​ Heartwarming :)

​Conclusion of the day: immerse yourself in a little piece of nature. So worth it! ;)

You can find more travel inspiration here: Whangarei, Love it here. Couldn't be a better promo for the region!

And if you want to travel further up North, make sure to check out the world famous Hundertwasser toilets and the top of Northland! So absolutely worth the visit!  
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***Got inspired? So happy if you share ;)