Today was our last day in the North Island. We had a long day of driving ahead of us because I had purposely scheduled an out-of-the-way trip to the Coromandel Peninsula to visit the beautiful Cathedral Cove.

Cathedral Cove is a “must see” in the area, especially if you time your trip just right for sunrise or sunset. It didn’t really work out for us because we had a flight to catch that night but I was determined to visit anyways.

We zig-zagged our way up and down the mountains from Tauranga to Hahei. The views were spectacular!

By the time we reached Hahei (after a bit of unexpected traffic from a parade of old-school cars..), we were hungry for lunch. It was also getting really warm and we were both cranky that we had to park in a parking lot waaaaay out from the Coromandel Peninsula.

If I could retire and live anywhere in the world, it would probably be here. The houses were beautiful and the views were incomparable. After lunch and ice cream, we set off to walk to the beginning of the Cathedral Cove hike. Unfortunately, it was all uphill and in the sun. By the time we got to the beginning of the hike, we were exhausted. We ended up stopping about mid-way and finding a cute little rocky alcove to hang out in the shade.

We made our way back to the car and headed to the airport.

The North Island was absolutely incredible to us and I couldn’t have asked for better weather. South Island had a lot to live up to.. Get ready because here we come!