Adventures of Tin Can Lulu

Once we had booked the Road Scholar trip, we knew that we had to experience a longer stay in New Zealand. It is a long way to travel and the chance we would return was in the far future. We found an amazing five day hiking trip in the North Island area. Although we had visited some of this area on the cruise, this hiking trip took us deeper into the area to beaches, hidden bays and sweeping coastal views that a cruise ship could not access.

The tour company, Active Adventures, kept the size of the group to 13 people. Perfect for this trip. We had two leaders who wore many hats to make each day an adventure. Kory was the master food planner and chef who kept us feed with marvelous meals, and Koru was our driver extraordinaire who could conquer any type of road with our bus and trailer and provide great information narrations on the areas. Two great mates!

Kory and Koru our leaders!

Our first day we journeyed from Auckland north to the small historic boat building village of Paparoa for a picnic lunch. Kory set the bar for food on that day and served up wonderful salads and sides! The final destination of the day was on the west coast to the town of Opononi. Our hotel was located right on the coast with unbelievable views. No traffic lights or sidewalks here, just miles of ocean, sand dunes and craggy coast!!

That evening we did a twilight walk in the Waipoua Forest. Two local Maori guides lead us through the forest to the colossal kauri trees. They performed sacred chants honoring the forest guardian and paying respect to the environment on this walk. Tane Mahuta (meaning Lord of the Forest), is New Zealand’s largest known living kauri tree. At a height of 168 feet and with a trunk girth of 45 feet, it is a giant tree that is 3000 years old! Impressive sight!!

Day two we continue heading north to the Wairere Boulders Natural Reserve (a private park) that is like stepping back to a prehistoric world. There are loads of fluted basalt blocks clustered together in a formation that stretches 1 mile.

The unique fluting of the boulders was caused by water running off and around the giant kauri trees in the area. As the rain poured down the branches of the trees and over the soil, it collected organic acids which, when they flowed onto the boulders, eroded ridges or ‘runnels’ in the rock – some 750 mm deep.

The afternoon we hiked the area around the Haruru Falls which is a 16 foot high waterfall. In the Māori language, the word haruru means continuous noise or roar. Great description for a very wide waterfall!

The next day we took a water taxi from Paihia to Deep Water Cove. The water taxi was a metal fishing boat that got as close to shore as possible to keep our feet dry. Stretching and jumping onto a boat was interesting!!

The hike was in the Manawahuna Scenic Reserve on Cape Brett Island. It was a one-way hike (3.5 miles) from one side of the island to the other. The vistas and views were magnificent.  The trail was a relentless series of climbs and descents rather than a single ascent. We had to stop looking up and just push onwards. The grades on the trail averaged 13.5%. A challenge definitely but we did it!

Day four was a water play day in the Poor Knights Islands. The Poor Knights were given their name by Captain Cook who in 1769 described the islands as resembling lumps of a ‘Poor Knight’s supper’, a dessert like bread and butter pudding. Poor Knights is the second oldest marine reserve in New Zealand. We (boat and all) went inside the world’s largest sea cave, saw flocks of petrels, shearwaters and gannets birds. Earle snorkeled and I hung out on the boat!

The last day of this hiking vacation was exploring Mangawhai Cliffs Walkway. We trekked across the beach and then climbed up to the cliff top . Once again the views did not disappoint .. stunning ocean views, offshore islands, farmlands, and learning new tree species. It was a great way to end our week of hiking in the north island area of New Zealand.

All total, we walked/hiked a 131 miles in our exploration of Australia and New Zealand. We were gone 30 days, did our longest air flight ever — 17.5 hours from Houston to Sydney, spent 14 days on a cruise ship (no motion sickness yeah!), did one of the hardest hikes on Cape Brett Island and enjoyed every foot we walked/hiked!

If you have dreamed of visiting this part of the world GO. If you haven’t considered it DO! It was a dream for us and glad we did!

More to come for our adventures of 2026.. stay tuned. Kia Ora!