Flagler - Auckland, Northland, New Zealands Kauri Coast & the Bay of Islands

This is based on my larger Adventure Guide and Pocket Adventure Guide, also published by Hunter, that cover all of New Zealand. Here we zero in on Northland, the Kauri Coast and the Bay of Islands. Included, however, is the complete introduction covering all of New Zealand in depth, which I hope you will find useful as well.

T he islands that make up New Zealand are mere dots on the bottom of the globe there is no doubt, this is a small place, far from the rest of the world. But what a delightful small place it is! Traveling around New Zealand, I often feel like the very best bits and pieces of the world were put together and all the extra land and people were removed. Its a gentle place and traveling here is easy: the language is English, the food is familiar and the people are friendly. There are mountains and rivers, wineries and farmers markets. You can find walking tracks that will take five minutes or two weeks and youll find kayaks, horses and helicopters, all ready to carry you off to spectacular places.

When I first arrived in New Zealand in 1999, I bought an old Honda Accord, filled it to the brim with my stuff and took off. I drove around for seven months and still that wasnt long enough. After immigrating the following year, I traveled as much as possible and when, a few years later, I had the opportunity to research my first guide book, I still had a mile-long list of places to see for the first time.

The best time to come to New Zealand is from October to April and my favorite months are February and March. Try to avoid Christmas thats when most Kiwi families take their holiday; places get filled up and often accommodation rates increase.

Activities You Should Not Miss:

• Splurge on a helicopter trip. My favorite is from Wanaka.
• Kayak the Queen Charlotte Sound or Abel Tasman.
• Swim with the dolphins in Kaikoura.
• Eat a lot of fresh produce and drink a lot of New Zealand wine.
• Go on a multi-day tramp (backpacking trip) and stay in a hut.
• Do a full-day guided tour on Franz Josef glacier.
• Go to Milford Sound. Preferably in a kayak.
• Ride a bike to Macetown or a horse into the high country.

F rom the sandy beaches of Northland to the snowy Southern Alps, New Zealand is a country of eye candy. When New Zealand was designed, its as if all the greatest places on earth were put together in one compact little land mass and most of the people were removed. Luckily for travelers, New Zealand is also a user-friendly kind of place, combining the laid-back attitudes of an island with the conveniences and lifestyle of the first world. New Zealanders, or Kiwis, are honest-to-goodness nice folks. Its like living in a country full of labrador retrievers.

When I first arrived in New Zealand it was on a friends sailboat at the end of two years traveling. As the sun began to brighten the morning sky, what was to become my adopted home literally presented itself as Aotearoa, the Maori word for New Zealand meaning land of the long white cloud. We sailed closer to Opua, our landfall in the Bay of Islands, and the cloud cover burned off to reveal a green land underneath a startling blue sky. Sailors who had arrived before us said, the people just keep getting friendlier the farther south you travel. We couldnt imagine how this would be possible, but it proved true. As the landscape gets more dramatic, the people are nicer, more welcoming, have more time to share. Interested not only in who you are, Kiwis look to visitors for approval and love to ask So, how do you like New Zealand? When Im asked why I chose to move here, just look around is my answer.

New Zealanders are great walkers and the country is bursting with tracks, from local strolls in the park, to full-on mountaineering. The woods are called the bush and hiking is called tramping. Funny turns of phrase, but youll get used to the idea of tramping in the bush. You cant go far without seeing water and many activities are sea- , river- or lake-based. One of the most amazing things about New Zealand is the proximity of places you can be climbing on a glacier in the morning and hanging out at the beach in the afternoon.

As if the natural grandeur of the place isnt enough to inspire a visit, consider this: New Zealand has no snakes, no rabies, only one poisonous spider thats so reclusive virtually no one ever sees it, and there is very little violent crime. Robust with bird and marine life, its only native mammal is a small bat. For me, it all adds up to a paradise where I can hike, bike or sail without much to worry about. Plus, there is great fresh produce, piles of fish, and wine just about everywhere you look what could be better? If I had to fault New Zealand, it would be twofold: the total lack of understanding what makes a proper chocolate chip cookie and the belief that instant coffee is an acceptable drink. The coffee issue is changing, but Ive yet to find a Toll House morsel.

New Zealanders are nuts for sport, but there is art and culture, as well. Never have I seen so many avid gardeners and the creativity of the artisans is astounding. While listening to the radio, you may get a chuckle hearing a song that you thought (and maybe even hoped) never to hear again, but music is alive and well in the city centers and the opera, ballet and orchestras are well-respected. New Zealand is the birthplace of many world famous performers, filmmakers, directors, singers, authors, photographers, painters... you get the picture.

I wrote this book with my friends in mind for people who travel like Peggy and Jeff, Mark and Amy; people who appreciate fine wine and goose-down duvets, but who are just as happy and comfortable when barreling down a muddy mountain on their bike or strapping a pack of camping gear to their backs. The Americas Cup, and the movies Lord of the Rings and Whale Rider have, in a few short years, taken New Zealand from the bottom of the world to the front of the minds of people all over the planet. And fair enough, too. Its a great place and, while there is no paradise, if youre a traveler in search of a destination where exploration is part of the adventure, then New Zealand is pretty darned close. I hope you enjoy your trip and that this book helps in your travels. Feel free to drop me a line at bettewrites@xtra.co.nz and let me know what you did and didnt like (both about the book and New Zealand!).

Apart from Antarctica, New Zealand was the last major land mass to be settled by man and the land that we call New Zealand evolved following the separation of the Rangitata Land Mass from the ancient super continent Gondwanaland some 80 million years ago. Separation forces continued for 20 million years until the Tasman Sea reached its current width and the land mass continued to experience changes until as little as five million years ago, when the current shape of the two islands began to take form. During this time of development, New Zealand lived in isolation and, as recently as 7,000 years ago, most of New Zealand was covered in rainforest. Protected by the sea, New Zealand developed unique flora and fauna and, within the perfectly safe forest, birds even lost their ability to fly. Sadly, the discovery of New Zealand by man first the Maori and the Moriori, and then the Europeans changed everything. The Maori were skilled hunters and fishermen and brought rats, dogs, fire and stone age weapons. The Europeans brought disease, agriculture, more weapons, intrusive flora and more fauna. The New Zealand we know today, while beautiful, is a shadow of what it must have been only 1,000 years ago.