Northland And The Bay Of Islands New Zealand

For many New Zealanders, the phrase ‘up north’ conjures up sepia-toned images of family fun in the sun, pohutukawa in bloom and dolphins frolicking in pretty bays. It’s uttered in almost hallowed tones, as if describing a mythical place. From school playgrounds to work cafeterias, owning a bach (holiday house) ‘up north’ is a passport to popularity.

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Beaches are the main drawcard and they’re present in profusion. Take your pick from surfy or sheltered, massive or minuscule, fashionable or forgotten, and from sand that’s golden, grey, pink or blindingly white. There are beaches suited to all sorts of aquatic pursuits imaginable, including splashing about in the nuddy. Visitors from more crowded countries are flummoxed to wander onto beaches without a scrap of development or another human being in sight.