Discover the rich and diverse beauty of the Bay of Islands from the perpective only possible by air!
Flight Path
The tour takes you out to the majestic Cavalli Islands then sweeps over the picturesque Matauri Bay and past the entrance of the Whangaroa Harbour. You then head along the coast to Doubtless Bay, and then up to the pure white sands of Cape Karikari Peninsula. From there, up past the Houhora Harbour and Great Exhibition Bay, where you will fly over the purest deposit of silica sand in the world. Then we travel past Spirit Bay before reaching the place where the
Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea collide at Cape Reinga. Down past Cape Maria van Diemen and over the desert like sand dunes to the west coast’s Ninety Mile Beach, where you are likely to see herds of wild horses running free in the sand dunes. The tour then continues down the coast past Ahiapara and over the golden sand dunes, down the rugged isolated west coastline past the Herekino and Whangape harbours, before landing at Omapere in the Hokianga Harbour. Here you board the bus and take a short drive to the forest where you will visit the awe inspiring Tane Mahuta and the Four Sisters. After the tour, you will return to the helicopter for the final leg up the Hokianga Harbour, then on to Kauri Cliffs via the waterfalls.
Cape Reinga
Cape Reinga is literally the end of the road, the Northern tip of New Zealand. Here you will see two oceans collide; this is the point where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, in a spectacular swirl of currents. It is also a place of spiritual significance to the Maori people; according to Maori oral history, this is the ‘place of leaping’, where Maori spirits begin their final journey to their ancestral homeland of Hawaiiki. Flying over Cape Reinga, you
will see the iconic lighthouse and a gnarled pohutukawa tree, believed to be over 800 years old.
Tane Mahuta
Go back in time and visit New Zealand’s magnificent ‘Lord of the Forest.’ The helicopter will drop you off at the departure site of the Tane Mahuta tour at Omapere where a private local guide will take you by car into to the Waipoua Forest to see this magnificent Kauri Tree. Tane Mahuta is located in Waipoua Forest, a natural stage for an unforgettable encounter with some of the largest remaining kauri trees in the world. The local guides will take you on a memorable journey through nature's stages of evolution, whilst providing a mythological and interactive interpretation of life in the forest. Not only will you see Tane Mahuta ('The Lord of the Forest') who stands an impressive 51 metres (150ft) tall, but also the mighty Te Matua Ngahere ('The Father of the Forest') who is estimated to be between 2,500 and 3,000 years old, with a mighty girth of over 5 metres (15ft) in diameter. 'The Four Sisters' are another highlight on the tour, a graceful collection of kauri trees that have grown close together in sibling harmony. Your local tour guide will give you an intimate and personal tour, explaining how these trees are inter-twined with the lives of local Maori and the important role they play in the eco-system that is the Waipoua Forest.