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This weekend was a dream. Jess and I rented a car to drive through the northern part of the North Island. We left right away Saturday morning and drew a few hours before stopping. We had a lot of snacks, nice weather, great music (thanks, J), and a GPS-- a perfect combination for a weekend.
Every place we went, we ended up just standing outside and looking like this:
The views here in NZ are hands down the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. There is nothing like them.
We went to a man-made botanical gardens (created from a quarry) and it was gorgeous. Jess and I looked for Kiwi birds (native to New Zealand and NZ citizens' nickname), but found out later they are nocturnal... haha.
Along the way up to the Cape, we stopped at a plethora of beaches. Shown below is 90 Mile Beach, a beautiful and (very) long beach. So much pure happiness.
We stopped randomly at a glow worm cave on the way up. Glow worms are only native to New Zealand and Australia, so it was really special to see the tiny firefly-like creatures. And, we were the only ones on the tour! So major bonus.
We saw a bunch of waterfalls as well... one more beautiful than the next.
After a long day of driving and sight seeing, we finally made it to Cape Reinga at sunset. Pictured below is the absolute top of New Zealand. A lighthouse was right on the edge! We witnessed the whirlpools that are formed when the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea collide. I was awestruck.
It was pretty flipping WINDY!! Some of the craziest wind I've ever experienced!
We set up camp and slept for a few hours before we woke up...... to our tent whipping in our faces. So we slept in the car for the rest of the night, lol.
I'm so thankful to be here. It's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.