Far North

Summer in NZ! It's hard to really celebrate Christmas when the weather is sunny and warm and you have those lazy long days that seem to never end. Everybody just heads down to the beach which generally is only a few minutes away, sets up camp and start firing up the BBQs. Even when the surf isn't just right, you can always take a dip and dry yourself in the sun. Here are just a few pictures from my trip up to the Far North. I tell ya, NZ summer is hard to beat.

Beautiful pink skies at sunset turn into violets and purple. A pod of dolphins were swimming just a few meters off the coast but wasn't able to photograph them. The first time I saw a postcard of New Zealand with pink skies, I thought it had been digitally altered. I thought it was a joke, a very bad one at that... the joke was on me when finally I saw how the colors transformed themselves at dusk, I was in awe.

Lush subtropical forests with pristine rivers and lakes are easy to be found. If only summer holidays could last longer...

 Tatooine? Not quite. No giant sand worms either.  Just the Sand Dunes up by Cape Reinga which is at the very top of the North Island. Dune surfing is quite popular up here even when you might get a mouthful of sand. Gritty!