This was one of the coolest things I've ever done, thanks to the Dunerider adventure.  Imagine hiking up an incredibly steep sand dune with a boogie board.  The trek itself up the hill is a task, as our foot sunk deep into the beautiful, silky sand.  You get to the top, of what is actually a really steep sand dune, jump on your boogie board, and high tail it about 40 mph straight downhill. 

It truly is a rush, especially since it feels like at any moment you're going to start tumbling head first into the ground (actually, we both managed to do this, which just covered us in fine sand that was impossible to get off from head to toe!)  Now that's what I call ingenuity--if you don't have snow to tobbagon down, why not use sand.

This was just one of the many adventures we had in the Bay of Islands.  This area is the Northern most part of New Zealand, which is dotted with gorgeous beaches, small islands, and lots of beautiful clear, blue bays. 

Sea kayaking to the Haruru falls was also a spectacular day trip.  With the guidance of Liz and Kylie of Coastal Kayakers, we managed to manuever through mangrove swamps, and arrive at these mesmerizing falls.  Jason was even brave enough to go directly underneath the falls, which the person before him capsized attempting.  Jason made it through saf eand sound, although the water bottle on the front of his kayak was crushed from the pressure of the water--that's how powerful the falls were.