Wednesday 8th December
A sunny start to the day with a little cloud around, 15 degrees at 0700....
We headed off promptly as we needed to be in the next town (Kaitaia) for our bus pick up at 0845; we made this comfortably and checked in.
We headed off promptly as we needed to be in the next town (Kaitaia) for our bus pick up at 0845; we made this comfortably and checked in.
We managed to get front row seats and left about 10 minutes early, so we assume that all booked people had arrived! We then headed out via a few pick-ups to the ‘Ancient Kauri Kingdom’ at Awanui. This is mainly a sales outlet thought there is a workshop attached. We had a browse around before heading on for views of Kauri trees and the areas where they are still extracting buried Kauri from the ground, these having fallen many thousands of years ago before being covered by shifting sand.
We then called in briefly for a view of Houhora harbour and then on to the brilliant white sands of Rarawa Beach. This part of the east coast has many bays of fine white silica sand, this being one of the best examples. The sun was well up and the sand was quite hot, so it was a welcome walk on the damp sand near the water before paddling in far enough for one of us to get his shorts rather wet!
From here we moved on to the Te Kao store which sells the ‘best ice creams in the Far North region’. We ordered two ‘single scoops’ which were actually about three scoops tall; and indeed it was delicious! A sample of a ‘double scoop’ is seen here:
It was then on to our lunch stop at another beautiful bay of white sand at Tapotupotu Bay. A picnic lunch was provided and slipped down very nicely before going for our second paddle of the day and a second soaking of those shorts - swimwear was in the bag but it hardly seemed worth worrying now!
After lunch we had just a short journey to Cape Reinga itself. The last few kilometres of road have in recent years been sealed and there are these days full washroom facilities which apparently cost NZ$1.3 million!
Here we walked to the lighthouse down a made up path (another recent development we believe) to get magnificent views of the surrounding bays and outcrops and of where the Tasmin Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. We were assured that this is much more dramatic on a stormy day, but we were happy to settle for sunny and calm!
On the return walk Mark opted for the unmade path over an adjacent hill and this gave an excellent view of the lighthouse, though whether it was such a good idea to run to the top we’re not so sure!
From here we moved on to the Te Paki Steam where we actually drove down the stream and through the quicksands (keep moving!) to head towards the beach.
This led us to the sand dunes of the west coast, which are golden in comparison to the white sand of the east. Here we stopped and had the opportunity to try sand tobogganing which entailed walking through the stream before climbing the dune (burning feet time!) and then sitting on an overgrown plastic tray to enjoy the descent! Just like on the snow, but warmer and drier.
Then it was on to the real reason for the bus ride.... we continued down the stream to join Ninety Mile Beach where we hung a left (now heading south) and drove 74km of the 103km beach, much of the time at over 100kph.
We slowed for the crossing of the numerous freshwater streams that come from the ‘dune pools’, and also stopped off to see the local ‘hole in the rock’. Mark was still ‘sandy’ from the tobogganing and did a quick check with the driver to see if there was time for a dabble; very soon about half of the group were paddling.... and the shorts got wet yet again!
We also stopped to admire what could be seen of a car that had driven on the ‘wrong part’ of the beach at one of the freshwater stream outlets, sinking into the quicksand. Just the top of the window frame was on view – this is apparently one of a number that have sunk into the sand over the years.
It was then time for the final run back to base where we picked up the campervan from the bus depot and headed for the Ninety Mile Beach campsite at Waipapakauri where we camped for the night.
On the return walk Mark opted for the unmade path over an adjacent hill and this gave an excellent view of the lighthouse, though whether it was such a good idea to run to the top we’re not so sure!
From here we moved on to the Te Paki Steam where we actually drove down the stream and through the quicksands (keep moving!) to head towards the beach.
This led us to the sand dunes of the west coast, which are golden in comparison to the white sand of the east. Here we stopped and had the opportunity to try sand tobogganing which entailed walking through the stream before climbing the dune (burning feet time!) and then sitting on an overgrown plastic tray to enjoy the descent! Just like on the snow, but warmer and drier.
Then it was on to the real reason for the bus ride.... we continued down the stream to join Ninety Mile Beach where we hung a left (now heading south) and drove 74km of the 103km beach, much of the time at over 100kph.
We slowed for the crossing of the numerous freshwater streams that come from the ‘dune pools’, and also stopped off to see the local ‘hole in the rock’. Mark was still ‘sandy’ from the tobogganing and did a quick check with the driver to see if there was time for a dabble; very soon about half of the group were paddling.... and the shorts got wet yet again!
We also stopped to admire what could be seen of a car that had driven on the ‘wrong part’ of the beach at one of the freshwater stream outlets, sinking into the quicksand. Just the top of the window frame was on view – this is apparently one of a number that have sunk into the sand over the years.
It was then time for the final run back to base where we picked up the campervan from the bus depot and headed for the Ninety Mile Beach campsite at Waipapakauri where we camped for the night.
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