I recently did a trip to the Cavalli islands, at the far north of New Zealand, staying at Matauri Bay Campsite and doing day trips either from the site, or a short drive away. This is a summary of that trip, the links take you to a short video showing the path we took and a few photos from each trip.
In total, 122.8 km paddled and walked, about 1900KM driven, at 8.2l/100km, a bit over 24 hours on the road spread over two days. The Cavallis are a beautiful place, and I want to come back at a time when we have half a metre or so of swell to get into all the caves and passageways I couldn’t see this time.
I did, however, see all the areas I was hoping to see, and overall the trip was great fun, and well worth the travel.
Day 1, Rock gardening from Matauri bay west, 17.9 km
https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqDpNRpKLq
Day 2, Outer Cavalli islands, 28.1 KM
https://www.relive.cc/view/v36AGRY9KZv
Day 3, Southern Cavalli islands, 22.4km
https://www.relive.cc/view/vYvE2nLm5GO
Day 4, Pekapeka bay and the duke’s nose, 21.6km walked and paddled
https://www.relive.cc/view/vevY37V5KJ6
Day 5, Motukawanui walk and snorkel, 14.2 km, not including swimming.
https://www.relive.cc/view/vRO7eZ8eVKq
Day 6, northern cavalli islands, including a swim and snorkel, 18.6km
https://www.relive.cc/view/vPOpDKPVwRO
NZ doesn't really have winters like the northern hemisphere does, so we can typically paddle year round. I can post some photos of a winter trip I did in the south island lakes a few years ago, come to think of it.