Northland is the rugged land to the north-west of Auckland. After picking up my hire car I headed straight up the SH1 highway, stopping briefly in Whangarei before continuing to Paihia in the tranquil setting of the Bay of Islands on Northland's east coast.
Close to Paihia is Waitangi National Reserve, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 by Maori chiefs and the British Government.
The next day I took a long drive up through the centre of Northland to Cape Reinga in the far north.
