The 3 sweet water lakes with smooth white sand are a place to be for kiwis at the weekend and likely more an insider tipp for ordinary foreign tourists.
We enjoyed great swims, romantic sundowner walks and simply had a nice and relaxing time…
James Cook visited the bay in 1769 and gave it its name – The Bay of Islands. More than 140 small island and inlets can be found here at the east coast (Pacific Ocean).
But more important from a historic point of view it is the place where the Treaty of Waitangi has been signed. The first contract between the Maori and British government and the founding document of New Zealand.
For a short time the small wale fishing port Russell was also capital of the country!
A short walk up to the Flagstaff hill provided us an excellent view over Russel and the stunning nature!
Heading to the east coast we had some lovely stopovers at Matakana and Whangarei.
At Plume Cafe, a real gem when it comes to coffee & lunch, we had a longer stop that lasted from late morning till early afternoon. An entertaining rooster 🐓 in the garden (named Henry, and he was on diet 😅) and lovely shops around the marketplace in Matakana needed time to be explored.
In Whangarei we found a beautiful loop walk around the local waterfall and the chance for our first family picture. Due to the drought over the last few month here on the north island the waterfall wasn’t as impressive as it could have been but it was still nice and definitely worth the stop.
3happinesshunters 