Continue on to the Kauri Museum at Matakohe to discover how early pioneer settlers worked the giant kauri tree and its gum.

On to Baylys Beach for lunch before heading for the crystal-clear waters of the Kai Iwi Lakes.

Overnight in Dargaville.

Next morning visit the Woodturner's Kauri Gallery before continuing on a drive through the sub-tropical Waipoua Forest. Stop at the Park Visitor Centre before visiting Tane Mahuta, the tallest living kauri tree. Estimated to be 2000 years old, Tane is 52 metres tall with a circumference of 13 metres.
Twin Kauri Trees in Waipoua Forest

Hokianga Harbour from above Omapere

On day three, travel to the top of New Zealand with Sand Safaris. Stop on the way to visit the Ancient Kauri Kingdom shop to view their range of ancient kauri furniture. Climb the internal staircase carved out of the middle of a huge kauri stump which radio-carbon dates back 45,000 to 50,000 years.

Drive north along famous 90 Mile Beach and up the Te Paki Stream. Visit the Cape Reinga lighthouse to view where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet before visiting picturesque Taupotupotu Bay for a picnic lunch.

Return to Kaitaia for the night via Gumdiggers Park, a 90-year-old gum digging area on the site of an ancient buried kauri forest.

Depart Kaitaia on day four for a leisurely drive through the attractive coastal settlements of Taipa, Coopers Beach and Mangonui to the Bay of Islands. Visit the Kerikeri Mission Station and the reconstructed Maori Rewi’s Village, then to the Waitangi Treaty House where the founding document of New Zealand, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed in 1840.

At nearby Paihia catch the ferry to the quaint seaside town of Russell for an historic tour. Visit sites such as Pompallier House, used as a printery and tannery by the French Marist mission in the 1840s. See the bullet holes in Christ's Church, the legacy of a siege by Maori chief Hone Heke in 1845.