Discover the hidden gems of New Zealand's dazzling Bay of Islands

The first thing we notice, aboard a yacht in the Bay of Islands, is the vast sky. It has an outback quality to it, deep and seemingly infinite above the dark-blue Pacific Ocean.

As we forge out from the seaside town of Russell towards Motuarohia Island, where Captain Cook anchored the Endeavour in November 1769, the morning sun is back-lighting the high-striated cloudscape, lending the whole vista an ethereal quality.

Across the sea in front of us, scattered as if by a Maori god, are some of the 144 mounded green islands of this region, off New Zealand's Northland coast. The closer we get to them, the more iridescent become the colours of the coves gathered around them, ranging from translucent green through turquoise to indigo.

Today is the third of a four-day trip through the dazzling Northland region, three hours' drive from Auckland, with my 14-year-old daughter Freya. Although I've visited New Zealand frequently, this is my first visit to a place that Kiwis love and that recently made US National Geographic's "top destinations for 2025".

Under an intense sun, the group Cook prosaically named the Bay of Islands could be the Caribbean, or Polynesia, from where the Maori arrived in about 1250, navigating by ocean currents, wind and stars. The Maori called it Ipipiri, meaning many places to fish, swim and settle, and with its sub-tropical climate and ravishing natural allure, that name still rings true.

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We are only minutes into our day-long sailing trip with Silver Wave yacht charters when skipper Scott Farrand, who has returned here from captaining super yachts in the globe's most glamorous locales, glimpses something in the water ahead. It's a little penguin, its dark blue back almost blending with the glassy swell, but given away by its white underside. It dives, then reappears, glinting wet in the sunshine, happy in its own feathers, but vulnerably tiny, bobbing in the huge sea.

As we near Motuarohia Island, Freya spots more wildlife in the shallows below: two rays darting for cover across the ocean floor, and then, the cause of their haste, a 1.5-metre bronze whaler shark, hunting for breakfast. Opportunities, like these, to encounter marine wildlife are part of the reason Northland made National Geographic's prestigious list.

Like Cook, we anchor off the island's sandy bay, before heading ashore on the yacht's tender. Unlike the British explorer we are not met by 200 hostile Maori warriors. Behind the beach are two pellucid lagoons and we follow a trail past ancient archeological sites, including pits and terraces, before climbing toward a cliff-top pa, a Maori fort.

From up there, there are 360-degree views over the island's sheer rocky northern shore and across its flatter southern approaches, giving early villagers warning of intruders. Today, the scene is as serene as the island breeze, the catamaran that brought us here jiggling in blue-green waters off the sandy cove below.

Our next stop is Moturua Island, where we lunch at anchor, before going ashore for a cross-island walk that tracks through forest, then dips down into another cove, where we are picked up again. Moturua is part of a wildlife sanctuary covering several islands that has reintroduced native birds, many of which are found nowhere else on the planet. Project Island Song has eradicated introduced pests like rats and possums, planted thousands of native trees and made Moturua a haven for birds like the piwakawaka fantail and the beautiful tieke, the red saddleback of which we spot, flitting among the fronds of a giant fern.

In the afternoon, we drop into skipper Farrand's favourite bay, off Waewaetorea Island, where the sandy ocean floor catches the sunlight through emerald water, and raise the sails to spirit us back to Russell.

After spending our first two nights at the Landing (see breakout), the seaside town of Russell, reached via a 10-minute car ferry across the bay, is our home for the remainder of our visit.

Russell was New Zealand's first permanent European settlement and, by 1825, was the Southern Hemisphere's largest trading port, with whale oil its major commodity. It became known as "the hellhole of the Pacific", where whalers and sailors indulged in brothels, grog and violent brawls.

The Duke of Marlborough Hotel, where we are staying, was central to goings-on back then, after obtaining the first Kiwi liquor licence in 1827. It's much more respectable these days, with waterfront rooms and al fresco dining on delicacies such as paua risotto and locally caught snapper. Situated on Russell's esplanade, alongside cafes, restaurants and art galleries, with the town laid out behind, much as it was two centuries ago, it is the best viewing point for the Bay of Islands' dramatic sunsets, which occur stage-centre in summer, foregrounded by a yacht-filled harbour.

Few places in New Zealand shed more light on this country's turbulent origins than the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, close to Paihia, another somnolent seaside town, which we visit the next day.

It was here, on February 6, 1840, that an agreement drawn up on behalf of Queen Victoria was signed by British colonisers and many, but not all, Maori tribal chiefs from the territory they called Aotearoa, "the land of the long white cloud".

The birthplace of modern New Zealand is a sedate but compelling historic site, with a tall white flagstaff rising from bayside lawns, marking where the treaty was signed.

Our visit begins with a sung welcome at the on-site meeting house, after which a young Maori group demonstrates traditional weapons and tools. The guided tour we join next is alone worth the admission price. It begins by describing the arrival of the Maori here in double-hulled canoes and the abundance they found: "The food was jumping out at my people here," asserts our guide, "kiwi and wood pigeon and pippies, yabbies and eels for protein. They grew kumara, taro and pumpkin, too."

We end the tour at Treaty House, home of policeman James Busby and his family, sent here in 1833 from Sydney. Busby was the British government's first representative in New Zealand and co-authored the treaty, which headed off French and American sovereignty claims over the land.

Two onsite museums put the Treaty of Waitangi into perspective. The Price of Citizenship museum is particularly poignant, detailing the Maori sense of betrayal and their heavy losses in conflicts since its signing, including the New Zealand wars (1843-1872), fought over forced ceding of land to colonisers. Maori sacrifice in the two world wars is also commemorated in the moving Garland of Love artwork.

With 860 kilometres of coastline, 144 islands and such rich history, four days in this remarkably undeveloped region is not enough, but our time here has been both full and relaxing and, on our drive back to Auckland, we fit in another Northland highlight: Whangarei Falls.

Like everywhere we've been, these powerful cascades leave a lasting impression, recalling, in their tumbling ribbons of whitewater, the huge, rippled Bay of Islands skies we beheld from the yacht two mornings before.

Set around a series of bays and spread across 400 hectares of rolling coastal hills, the four super-luxurious residences that make up the Landing have one of the most spectacular locations of any New Zealand accommodation. Driving into the property, past rows of vines that produce the Landing's own acclaimed wines, sweeping lawns and reclaimed wetlands that provide the perfect habitat for kiwis and other rare birds like the brown teal, there is an immediate sense of secluded exclusivity.

Arriving at the Boathouse, our home for two nights on the cusp of Wairoa Bay, behind a beach that looks like brown sugar, we settle into the lounge to gawp through floor-to-ceiling windows at the Bay of Islands.

It's refined and spacious but homely, with two large bedrooms, and we could happily dawdle at the Boathouse for days, relaxing, between swims, on the outdoor terraces. With its amply provisioned pantry and fridge and private chef on call to create breakfast, lunch and dinner, all included in a stay, there's little reason to leave.

On our first afternoon we stroll uphill to play tennis behind the sprawling Cooper residence, where Barack Obama's name is first in the guest book, and do a few dunks on the half-basketball court alongside the Boathouse. In the evening, the Landing's amiable executive chef, Matt Cook, arrives to prepare us a four-course feast, including grilled paua (NZ abalone), butternut and ricotta tortellini, and Northland lamb rack with kumara fondant.

The next morning, we are taken out in the Landing's speedboat, Ranginui, to the Te Pahi islands and some rare columns of volcanic black rock offshore, by skipper Brett Michalick. He shares the history of this corner of Northland dating back 800 years, to when the Maori arrived from Polynesia. This whole coast is littered with evidence of Maori occupation and stories of 18th-century encounters with French explorers and Captain Cook. The Landing itself encompasses several significant sites, including defensive hilltop palisades and burial grounds, and is adjacent to Hohi Bay, where New Zealand's first mission station, Marsden's Cross, was established in 1814.

A bespoke tasting at the on-site winery and night-time kiwi spotting tour, on which we spot two round-bodied, ground-dwelling birds digging for bugs with their rapier-like beaks, complete our time at the Landing. It's a hard place to bid "kia ora" (goodbye) to, but leave we must, for two more days exploring Northland.

Getting there: Air New Zealand has daily flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Auckland, from where the Bay of Islands is a three-hour drive. airnewzealand.com.au

Staying there: The Boathouse at the Landing is priced from $NZ4900 ($4452) per night, for up to four people, including meals and activities. thelandingnz.com The 4.5-star Duke of Marlborough Hotel, in Russell, costs from $137 per night. theduke.co.nz

Explore More: waitangi.org.nz; silverwave.co.nz; northlandnz.com

The writer was a guest of the Landing, the Duke of Marlborough, Silver Wave and Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

Pictures: Daniel Scott; supplied