If you were counting, we visited 7 wineries and 7 chocolate shops. We have our priorities. I can honestly say there are 6 of the 7 in each catagory we would recommend, so your odds are good.  We purchased a case of wine at Paroa Bay, Neudorf, and Chard Farm.  Sadly, the Paroa Bay wine didn’t make it because they lacked an import license to the USA.  We were reimbursed for our purchase.  As mentioned in that day’s entry, they were a new winery and are learning the ropes.  Hopefully, they have taken the measures to ship here.

My top 3 highlights were the Duke’s Nose (including the Wairakau Track and water taxi), Rawhiti Caves, and Wharariki Beach. A bit more detail on Duke’s Nose: I enjoyed the sleepy little fishing villages of Whangaroa Harbour and Totara North. The Wairakau Stream Track was enjoyable and not too strenuous. It is steep to continue on to Duke’s Nose and you have heavy chain for handholds on an almost rock-climb ascent at the last 10 meters. But the view is so worth it and you’ll feel so accomplished (I’m King of the World!!!) when you get there. The water taxi back can be set up in advance with BushmansFriend. They do the route routinely and I enjoyed making stops at Kingfish Lodge and dropping supplies to a houseboat, etc. It was very scenic and gave me an impression of what life there is like.

NOTE: The chain has been removed from the top portion of Duke’s Nose in November of 2015.  I’m not sure  why, perhaps someone got hurt.  But I’m so glad we got to do this when we could!

Rawhiti Caves was something we attempted in December of 2012. We were about 400 meters past the dry creek entry when we heard water crashing down and ran back in the nick of time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sk69xxCv34&spfreload=10 So this time we were determined! It was dry as a bone and the second half of the track is very uphill. I could hear my name being cursed by those I’ve recommended this to. But the cave is one of a kind! I felt like I was in the jaws of a gigantic shark with thousands of teeth! You don’t need a torch. The uphill was totally worth it and I’d do it again.

Wharariki Beach must be done at the low half of tide. Walk the inland pasture route south and then descend onto the beach at the south end. The arches will be viewed at their archiest and the rock islands on the beach are immense! There are sea caves that beg to be peered into (no real need for a torch) and you’ll feel like a kid. The downside is at the north end you have the sand dunes to ascend. You could go over the sand dunes first and walk south, but you’d always be looking over your shoulder to view the ever-changing arch rocks at sea.

The one thing that didn’t live up to expectations: Urapukapuka Island. I think the $20 for roundtrip a fantastic value. You do need to make reservations for it, although when I last looked, you couldn’t do this on the website. They request a return time to be booked, but you are allowed to change it once on the island. We booked for time on the island to be about 4-5 hours. It was hot; there was no breeze whatsoever. It’s very open pastureland with lots of hills. After the first two climbs to overlooks of a rugged cove, we saw what lay ahead and decided to head back to the café at Otehei Bay and have a beer. But we enjoyed watching families enjoy themselves at the beach, kids chasing seagulls, etc.

One thing I think I’ve learned about our travel style is we like a good bit of variety in our day-to-day travels.  An entire day devoted to a walk fell short of the day that we did a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

So if you’ve read this far, I’ll bore you with links and what we brought for the trip. First, I loved this interactive packing list: http://www.independenttraveler.com /packing

A good youtube channel to subscribe to is: https://www.youtube.com/user/soniastravels She has a wealth of videos to address your travel packing and general travel needs. Watching them became addictive.

Stupid stuff that came in handy with shopping links:

My Maxpedition Fatty Organizer (you can also find youtube videos on what men pack in theirs, it can kill an entire afternoon) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005258078/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 What I packed in mine: Pocket knife sharpener, pen, travel toothpick, nail clippers, tweezers, hair ties, phone, phone charger, Ipad charging cord and plug, memory card for phone camera, bandaids, Kleenex, moist towelette, Tylenol, camera manual, coffee filters, extra sim card, p38 (military can opener), and my house key.

Cooler Bag: we didn’t use this as much this trip except for the 6 days on the North Island. You can have it in your checked luggage, full of clothing and then buy ice bricks at your first location to keep food cold. Take clothes out, put food in. If you do a more typical, one car rental, trip and cook for yourselves – it comes in handy. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042LMV0U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pocket knife sharpener: designed for hunters and camper-type people. But when you have to rely on the knives at different kitchens, you will need this. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O8OTNC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Daypack!: This was my “purse” once we landed. It folds into itself for packing in your luggage and holds a lot when out on the tracks! You see a lot of pictures of me with my bright orange pack.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DHIZ85E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A buff (not just for Survivor fans!): Honest, really handy. Available in every print imaginable but I bought a 6-pack assortment listed here. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5MHYBC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Google and find what you like. I used it mostly for a headband when we were in windy areas. A wide-brimmed hat is no good and my part will sunburn easily. Put on the buff and it keeps you hair from flying and your part from frying. ( I just made that up, pretty good, eh?)

I’ve also learned that the best camera is the one you have with you.  I took my “bridge” camera and it stayed in my suitcase.  I figured that Fred had a much better camera, so why bother?  But sometimes I had to egg him on to take a shot, and other times he didn’t take his camera at all.  It involves carrying a heavy pack with changeable lenses.  For instance, when we in Wellington and we headed to Cuba St. for his shave.  I would have loved to have pictures of the bucket fountain.  UPDATE: I now have a tiny compact camera.  No adjustments, just point and shoot!  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IOTTLZY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01 It fits in my purse or backpack with little extra weight.  I have a camera case for over-the-shoulder carry I really love!  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JCOF6AO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01  Stay tuned for more immediate photos on future trips!