Exploring Hokianga: Koutu Boulders & Arai Te Uru – Day 361

Today we’re going to be exploring the Hokianga Harbour and some of its crazy rock formations.

This morning we wake up on the beautiful Hokianga Harbour and we hop in the car almost as soon as we wake up because we have a lot planned today we’re going to check out the Koutu Boulders and then after we’re gonna head to the Arai Te Uru Heritage Walk.

What happened to our car Robin?

It’s really muddy. It looks like an impressionist Monet painting right here. I like it. I like the style.

It’s pretty badass isn’t it?

So as you guys can see right below we’ve already passed the 365 activities – that’s right, few days ago, we did our 365th activity but cos we’re so close to wrapping up our year we’re gonna keep going on the road until we wrap up this entire year.

Mere was telling us yesterday that Hokianga harbour is famous for it’s seashells and seafood so we can see heaps of them on the beach.

When we see the boulders poking out of the water we get a sense of de ja vu.

We really need to look at tide times before going to visit the boulders. We make the same mistake every single time.

You mean the two times we’ve been in.

Yeah, that’s two times too many.

Ok, so it’s day 361 right now, we have four days left how many more boulders are we gonna check?

Who knows? Well we’re probably not gonna see any cos the tide is gonna be in.

Just like the Moeraki Boulders that are found on the South Island of New Zealand, the Koutu Boulders are lesser known boulders but just the same being perfectly spherical boulders being found on the beach.

Some of the wildlife are using the boulders as perches for diving for fish like these cute little kingfishers that we see loads of as we’re walking down the beach. The beach is packed with lots of different birds and wildlife and seashells it’s a really awesome place to go and check out.

The further down the beach that we walk, the bigger and better the boulders are getting. Some of them start out really small and they have all these unusual cracks and shapes inside them.

And then we get to some really some awesome huge ones as well which are awesome photo opportunisties.

I really like all the shells around here as well this whole Hokianga Harbour is just harbouring life.

It’s time to take some photos… And then start walking back down the beach.

By the way guys, speaking of photos, if you tag @NZPocketGuide.com on Instagram we will share all your pictures on our page so make sure you do that when you roam around New Zealand, we love to see what you guys get up to.

On our way down the beach on the very same path as we were walking on before we pass infront of a beautiful couple of stilts which are a New Zealand native bird. They are currently eating fish and look absolutely stunning. I really love walking down the same track back and forth because I always get to see different stuff and that’s another amazing example.

After taking a couple of pictures of fossilized trees, we are already back in the car cos we are making our to the Arai Te Uru Heritage area. There is a really awesome short walk to do there with stunning views of the surroundings and we don’t want to miss it.

At the beginning of the walk there is a bit of a information area where we can learn about this area and also about Kupe which was an early Maori explorer if you want to learn about him check out our video where we did a night Maori tour with Footprints Waipoua – we’re gonna link to it in the cards above but let’s get back to what we’re doing right now which is enjoying the views of the Hokianga harbour but we can see the rain coming so we are wanting to tackle a short walk quickly.

The Arai Te Uru Reserve, otherwise known as the Hokianga Heads, has loads of different hikes to choose from, literally ranging from 10 minutes to 5 whole days we decide to go somewhere in between doing the Signal Station Walk which is literally about 15 minutes one way and 15 minutes back.

Along the way we get to see amazing views of stunning paradise looking beaches like this one right here which is called Martin’s Bay and we walk through coastal forest with real windswept looking beaches and rugged looking bush.

On one side of the track we have amazing views of bush filled valleys and on the other side of the track is the Hokianga Harbour itself with its amazing coastal views and right across the Hokianga Harbour is loads of sand dunes you can actually take a ferry across the harbour and do some sand boarding over there and we did sandboarding just the other day it’s super fun thing to do in the Northland region so check out the link in the cards above to see that video.

It looks like we’re beating the rain to the end of the track which is awesome cos there are so many awesome views to see on this bench viewpoint right at the end. We get to see the huge waves crashing into the coast and there are more beaches to see like Waimamuku Beach and lots of rugged coastal cliffs and valleys to check out as well.

Checking out this view point is a stark reminder of the power of nature – we can see literally mother nature carving New Zealand right now. Those waves are bashing onto the rocks below creating beautiful sand beaches and the wind is creating this very unique and eerie landscape – I genuinely loved that walk and if you are ever in the area this is an absolute must-do.

And for us it’s the perfect way to wrap up our time in Hokianga. This is a very underrated place in New Zealand and we can’t stress enough that this is a must-visit.

Today we are making burritos.

By the way we have heaps of budget recipes easy to do on NZPocketGuide.com.

So let me guess Laura’s gonna take hundreds of pictures – she’s even taking pictures of the camera. She just took a picture of you guys, smile!!