The list of our favorite places in NZ is long, but one of the best days we’ve had here has to be the one we spent exploring Castlepoint.  Castlepoint is a bit out of the way from most everywhere else but is well worth the trip.  In a small area you get a little bit of everything from steep climbs, bashing waves, a picturesque lighthouse, a scary sea cave, cliffs, and stinky seals.  It’s amazing how many places there are to explore in what is a pretty small area.  Everything about the scenery here is dramatic, and we spent enough time to enjoy it at both high and low tides.

We arrived at high tide and walked up the trail to the lighthouse and then out and around on the reef rocks.  The waves crashing along the reef cliff were incredible and we often found ourselves dodging the sea spray.  Unlike Pancake Rocks on the South Island, you can get close to the edge here and really experience it!  We then made our way south along the reef and then up Castlepoint Rock which dramatically drops straight down to the ocean below.  However, the pinnacle of our experience at Castlepoint has to be the sea cave which passes below the lighthouse.

The sea cave is only accessible at low tide, and the trip out to it felt like some Greek Myth filled with challenges and tests along the way.  First we had to navigate the reef rocks, waves (we didn’t really wait for low tide) and the slippery clay along the shore.  Then, just when we thought we were almost to the cave entrance, we found seven seals guarding the path in.  They did not want to move, and we didn’t want to move them.  After several attempts to get them to step aside, we decided to just climb the rocks above them and see if that would work.  Luckily, after gaining the upper ground they decided to move on which was especially fortunate because if we had to smell them for one more second we would have gone the way of Aegeus.  After climbing up and over the seven seals we finally found the cave entrance.  Stepping into the black hole we were blasted by a mighty wind (not from the seals or whoever was in front at the time).  This cave has some lungs!  If you aren’t careful you could get knocked over walking into the cave.  Once inside, we realized that you can see the other cave opening on the ocean side of the reef.  And you can also see the massive waves come bashing through and sometimes closing off the opening.  And best of all, the sound of the waves is so loud that we were convinced we would be swept away or thrashed on the rocks–fodder for the giant octopus that legend says lives inside the cave.  Inside, there are tons of little pools, eyes that look up at you from below, and stalactites hanging from above.  We’ve never seen or experienced anything like it.  Luckily, we survived it all, made it out past the seala again and lived to tell the tale.  However, we did see a signpost for all of the “Lost Soles” that we can only imagine perished in the cave and fattened up that giant octopus inside.

Our first stop was a bit north of Auckland at Maharungi Regional Park.  After showing us our campsite, the camphost then showed us the showers–a beautiful teal blue bay.  It didn’t take too much convincing to get us to “shower”.  Morning swims, afternoon swims, evening swims–no matter what time of day the water feels great!  We ended up spending two nights at Maharungi–one at Sullivan’s Bay and one at a backcountry site on Mita Bay.  The hike from Mita Bay gave us our first taste of New Zealand ferns which are nothing like ferns back home–they’re more like trees.  It’s pretty exciting to have an entirely new set of plants, birds, animals, etc. to experience and learn.

After Maharungi we continued north up the east coast to Waipu.  In full New Zealand adventure spirit we took on what I call the Waipu hat trick–three stops in one day.  First we took a short hike out to Piroa Falls–a destination that one of our guidebooks considered “nothing special as afar as the scenery goes”.  It was a beautiful water fall with several deep swimming holes right at the base.  Check out the pictures and see if they seem sub par–if our guidebook is right, then I guess we’re really in for a treat at some other falls.  After the falls we took off for Waipu Caves.  These caves (and others in NZ) are open for exploration–no user fees, no bars closing them off, no guides to hire.  The caves are well known for the glow worms that cover the cave ceiling like a small milky way.  After trudging through the muddy cave floor and wading through a shallow underground stream we turned off the headlamps and were treated to this incredible sight.  The picture does no justice to what it actually looked like.  Finally, after the cave trip, we headed for our final destination of the day–Uretiti Beach.  There’s a DOC campground there that was full of folks getting in their last full weekend of the summer (school starts back up here on 2/2/09 -folks here put the month second and the day first, but today this works for all of us!).  We picked out our spot and made a quick beeline for the beach–a long stretch of white sand and blue water.  We took the obligatory swim and then settled in for a good night’s rest.

The water is so warm here that a 7:45 am swim on a cloudy day was perfectly comfortable.  What a way to start the day!  We picked up where we left off and had another busy day planned–Whangarei Falls, A.H. Reed Kauri Park, and Abbey Caves.  Since then we’ve made it back down the west coast and have landed at our first WWOOF stop–White Cliff Brewery!  More on that later–it’s great!

Week one has been phenomenal, and we know that we’re just getting started.  We’re enjoying every minute of every day and having an absolute blast.  At the same time, we miss all of our friends and family back home and love getting the skype messages and emails–so keep them coming!

There’s nothing like getting out on the trail…but, we had to put in our time below ground before we could enjoy some of the pleasures above.  From D.C. we made a beeline through the wind and rain for Mammoth Cave National Park.  By the time we got there at 12:30 am after 14 hours of driving the skies had cleared and the moon was shining.  We spent a few days at Mammoth, waiting for our Wild Cave tour on the third day.  This was a 6 hour tour in the cave, walking, crawling, climbing, and squeezing through some of the largest known cave system in the world.

After Mammoth, we had a great time visiting our Bear Brook friends Tom and Shire, who happen to live about 20 minutes from the Maker’s Mark distillery. This is a beautiful part of Kentucky with rolling hills, horse farms, and the sweet smell of aging bourbon wafting through the air.  We also visited Buffalo Trace distillery, and at both places we got personal tours and tastings.  At Buffalo Trace we just missed Elmer T. Lee (his namesake bourbon that he personally selects the barrels for is one of the finest), and our guide told us that he is “what you would call a real Southern gentleman”.  I bet.  It’s hard to think of a better place to be than in a 150 year old warehouse, surrounded by thousands of barrels of bourbon and the smell of the “angel’s share” (that’s what they call the evaporating bourbon that escapes from the barrels).