This season we had the pleasure of traveling up and down the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, Northland.

We sailed over 700nm down to Tauranga (south) and as far North as Matai Bay.

And the amazing thing is we did not even begin to touch all of the beautiful places Northland has to offer!

We started at Whangarei (red arrow) and went south.  Then we left Tauranga and headed north to Matai before returning to Whangarei.

Along the way, we saw some absolutely stunning coastline. 

The coastline close to Tauranga (south) had a rocky terrain with specs of greenery.  It also had beautiful towering cliff faces.

Around the Auckland / Waiheke Area things were a lot greener with hillsides and mountains covered in lush vegetation.

You’d see mountains, hillsides, and then you will see lower lands but all covered in green!

North on the North Island

As we continued North toward Whangaroa we encountered more beautiful scenery. 

I love the mohawk on the bottom photo. Poor mountain does not know that mohawks are so yesterday!

Continuing North to Matai Bay

The landscape became more rugged the further north we went.  

From Whangaroa to Maitai Bay we saw beautiful mountains with green tops and dramatic cliffs plunging into the sea.

We had a very short sailing season in New Zealand this year.  We were only able to explore the east coast of the north island from February through April.

We had really hoped to explore more nooks and crannies along the coast. However, our extended stay in the boatyard cut our cruising season really short.

However, we certainly made the most out of the time we had!

Our blog posts run 6 weeks behind actual events. We sailed the east coast from mid-February through mid-April in 2026.