We head south east to Whangarei Heads – what an amazing landscape. Not only are the beaches beautiful but the ridges that we drive past and camp next to are what’s left of a volcano after an eruption 20 million years ago! Ocean Beach really lives up to it’s name – the pacific in all it’s glory. Bit too rough for us to go for a swim! Great place to camp for the night though. So many pohutukawas here, and all coming into bloom. In the morning, we drive across the end of the peninsular and go for a walk over farmland to try and find Smuggler’s Bay – it’s called this because Scottish settlers used to smuggle in crates of whiskey to avoid the tax man! Although the bay is stunningly beautiful, we had an upsetting experience when Don discovered a dead Hawksbill Turtle. We contacted DoC as these turtles are critically endangered. The rangers came, took measurements, DNA samples, checked for tags and then buried it. We both found this very poignant and upsetting. We camp not too far away at Reotahi Bay.

What remains after a massive volcanic eruption 20 million years ago.