Cody had a job up in Whangarei so we took the kids out of school for the day to head up early on our weekend adventure. While Cody worked all day the kids and I hung out. We visited the cute little shops near the harbour. We stopped in a glass blowing shop and watched a man at work…the kids were so enthralled! We got ice-cream, played at a park, had a picnic, played some tag, walked the Quarry Gardens, and visited the library. Once Cody was done with work we had a delicious Thai dinner and then headed to our final destination for the weekend.
Aroha Island is near Bay of Islands and is a kiwi bird reserve. It is a nice campsite with toilets, running water, showers, and a nice area to camp. We thought it would be crowded with it being Waitangi holiday, but we lucked out! We got a great camping spot overlooking the water. There were only 5-7 other campsites taken near us. We quickly set up camp and got situated. The kids became fast friends with a little family of ducks. There was a mama duck that had a limp and her two baby ducks, with one duckling having a paralyzed leg. Our kids are so good at naming things and they promptly declared them as Big Mama, Ping, and Hopper. They loved following them around! Once we were all set up, we sat back and enjoyed the view. The sunset was stunning!
Kiwi birds are nocturnal so if you want a chance of seeing them, you have to be prepared to stay up late! Our first night there, we bundled up, got our torches (flash lights) with red over the light, and walked quietly through the trails surrounding our campground. It's hard to have a family of 6 walk silently through the bush =) But we were stealthy and did our best. At times, we could hear rustling in the bushes so close but we just could never see anything. We saw some eyes glaring back at us one time and Ethan says he saw one scurry from the trail into the bush as we were approaching. But, that first night was a bust. Not to worry…we had 2 more nights to achieve our goal.
After a great night's sleep, we ate breakfast and headed over to Rainbow Falls. This was another NZ Frenzy recommendation and it did not disappoint! Ethan, Gavin, and Cody braved the tip top of the waterfall and sat at the edge overlooking as the water poured down beneath. We all climbed the rocks surrounding the small lake and scurried over the boulders up behind the waterfall. It was awesome! Behind the waterfall was a huge bright green mossy grotto. It was like a hidden room behind the falls…it was so cool! We couldn't be this close to a waterfall and not take advantage of being underneath it! So Cody, Ethan, and I all braved the cold water and stood beneath as it cascaded down into the lake. It was surreal! Once we had our waterfall fix, the kids loved playing in the lake trying to catch fish…and they were successful! We had a yummy picnic and headed back to our campsite. Once back at the campsite, we loaded up your kayaks with snacks, water, and snorkeling gear and paddled out on an adventure. We left right from our front porch of our tent. It was a beautiful day. We took our time and headed towards a secluded cove. We docked our kayaks and put on our snorkeling gear. The water was too cloudy but we still had fun exploring the sea. Once we were back on the sand, we saw a stingray skim the shore a few times. We wish we could have seen him while we were snorkeling! But maybe it was a good thing we didn't….=) We took our time paddling back to camp and enjoyed seeing huge birds perching on trees and kept our eyes peeled for dolphins. We ate dinner, took a quick walk around the trail for signs of kiwi holes, and enjoyed the relaxing sunset. We all took showers to be clean for church the next morning. Once we were all ready for bed, we got ready for another night of kiwi searching. We went back to a few spots that we had scouted out during the day and just sat on the ground and waited. Then we moved to another location and waited some more. The kids were getting tired and Reese even fell asleep on Cody. So we decided to take the kids back and settle them into bed. They were all tucked in and sleeping when Cody and I snuck out for another kiwi search. It was about 11 pm and we silently walked along the path. We could hear kiwi calling to each other all over. We would hear some calls and we would head in that direction. But then we wouldn't see anything. We were getting tired and frustrated and just wanted to see one! We headed back to a promising location and just stood there and waited. Sure enough, we heard rustling in the bush so so so close! We had just passed a couple also searching and were trying to quietly get their attention to no avail. The sound was getting closer…Cody and I reached our hands to hold in the suspense because we knew we would see it. And then bam! Out popped a good sized kiwi bird right in front of us! It was amazing!! It was so much larger than I thought it would be. It was like a huge chicken with a long pointed curved beak. It was completely oblivious to us and just kept popping its beak into the ground looking for bugs. It came out on one side of the trail and walked right across and onto the other side. I tried to quietly follow it but I accidentally stepped on a leaf and the crunching sound startled it and the kiwi jolted off quickly. Wow. It was so cool! We successfully got the attention of the other couple and together we tracked down the elusive little bugger again to show them. They were visiting from Germany and were so excited to see one too! We sat for quite a bit longer just watching it from a further distance as it rummaged in the bush for food. We went to bed that night fully satisfied!
Morning came way too fast since we were up so late playing with the kiwi! We quickly got ready for church and drove 30 minutes away to a branch in Paihia. It was a really special meeting because their branch had grown to a ward size and they were getting reorganized. It was cool to witness the happiness there. After church, we had a picnic near a gorgeous turquoise watered beach. Then we headed to Russell, a place in New Zealand with a lot of history. It was a crazy long windy dirt road that made Gavin and me really sick. But we made it there in one piece. We had fun listening to The BFG on the way. We lucked out and got to see an awesome Maori waka take off from the shore with 60 men chanting. It was a sight to see! We walked along the cute storefronts close to the beach and wandered through the cemetery. We made it back to camp in time to make dinner and enjoy another gorgeous sunset. We had fun playing card games right and relaxing being together. We got ready for bed again and all went to sleep. Cody set the alarm for midnight so he and Ethan and anyone else keen to do one last kiwi hunt. Nobody else wanted to leave their comfy beds so just the 2 braved the dark night. Unfortunately, they didn't see any kiwis but they heard a lot calling to each other.
We had a lot of packing up to do and everyone was great at helping. Our van looked so packed down….2 kayaks on top, a luggage rack on the back totally loaded, plus the inside of our van completely jam packed with kids and gear. But, we had everything we needed and had a great time! We had one last stop to make on our way back home. We stopped at Ruakaka beach for a fun boogie boarding session. It was a perfect beach with clear water, good sized waves, white sand, and few crowds. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous weekend!
Here is the video we put together from our weekend adventure:
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