Kauri Trees – Sandboarding – Lunchtime Swim in Paradise – Cape Reinga – 90 Mile Beach

No visit to the Bay of Islands is complete without a day trip up to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand. In Maori tradition, when people die their departed souls walk north to Cape Reinga. When they arrive here, they turn to face south, wave goodbye to their home and loved ones, and then drop down over the rocky cliffs which is the entrance to Hawaiki, the afterlife. That's a summarized “Danielle” version, but I had to record it here because I find it such a beautiful way to say goodbye to life and greet death. Cape Reinga was at the end of the day though, and I need to start at the beginning.

The bus took off bright and early, leaving the backpackers before 7:30. Full day ahead! Our first stop was the Manginangina, a Kauri tree forest that had Kauri trees a lot older than the ones in Whangerei. There was one tree that you would easily need 10 people joining hands to reach all the way around the trunk. I can't get over how beautiful the forests are here. I've wandered through some great urban forested parks in Europe, but those ones always feel very influenced by civilization – carved stone steps here, a perfectly straight line of trees there.. In New Zealand you really get back to the rugged design of mother nature. I suppose it's the same in Canada, but the forests are greener on the other side (literally actually, New Zealand is mainly rainforest).

From Manginangina, we continued north to our next stop at the sand dunes. The bus drove through a stream and right onto the hard sand at the base of the dunes, and then our driver Spike opened up the bus luggage area to reveal 30 body boards for us to run up the hill with, and then zoom down on again. I had been on sand dunes in September when I went to the Oregon Coast with Trish, Jill, Patrice, and John. So I had fresh memories of how annoying it is to climb a mountain made of sand. As usual, taking the slow and steady method helped me make it up to the top of the hill eventually. Spike explained the technique we were supposed to be using, and he helped by giving everyone a good push as they took off. Rachel, my bus seat buddy, was a bit nervous. I tried calming her down by saying “It's just like toboganning!” But the poor English girl had never been tobogganning. Eventually, it was my turn. No one had crashed yet, but I felt I would be the one since I am incredibly uncoordinated with things like this (read: skateboard = broken ankle, toboggan + tree = destroyed knee, etc) and was mentally preparing for the worst. As Spike pushed me down, 20 odd years of tobogganning experience took over and I made it down the hill without a problem – I even slid all the way down to the stream! After my first walk up, I was positive that it would be my last. I could not be bothered to climb the damn hill again. But the first ride down was so exhilarating that I quickly scurried up the hill again – this time with my camera, and Spike followed me down on his own board, recording me the whole way down. If I could find decent internet, I might even be able to post it.

The sand dunes were gorgeous, but Spike managed to one up them by bringing us to our lunch stop at Taputaputa Bay. This is a small beach on the Pacific Ocean with golden sand, crystal clear water, and waves high enough to make body surfing fun. I jumped right in for a lunch time swim, wishing I could just live there.

Sadly, we had to continue on, and took the final stretch of highway north to Cape Reinga. The car park is about a 20 minute walk from the top of the country, but the scenery along the way is so gorgeous that I didn't even notice. When I signed up for this tour, the brochure boasted that I would be able to see “the clash of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean as they cross over”. This sounds like a load of poetic bull shit. Oceans are human concepts, water doesn't care where an imaginary line is drawn, it's just water. Right? Wrong. There was an area of the sea that was quite choppy, and on a closer look, I could see two distinct sides with waves crashing in opposite directions. It was so cool. Brochure, you keep up that beautiful poetic bullshit. Show me more. Other than that, the Cape had a cool lighthouse and a signpost showing the directions and distances to various famous cities around the world. True to the Maori culture steeped in the land, the area was peaceful and calm, and felt very sacred. I could have stayed much longer.

But we needed to get back to Paihia for the night, so we started the long trek back down south. This was made shorter by driving along 90 Mile Beach. Yup, we drove right on the sand. At low tide, the sand is hard enough that any vehicle can drive down it. Apparently it's recognized as a New Zealand highway, so you can even get a ticket on the beach if you're driving like an idiot or going over the 100km/h speed limit. We stopped for pictures at one point and I ran into the water, just so I can say I've swam in two oceans in one day. Check!

The day was closed out by a trip to the Ancient Kauri kingdom, which is a gift shop and showroom made of Kauri tree objects. The only thing worth mentioning is that the store is built around a Kauri tree trunk that has been turned into a staircase. As in you walk up inside the tree. The trunk is so thick that they literally just carved out a spiral staircase into it. I felt a bit childish as my only thought was “I want one”. Our last stop was in Mangonui for some fish and chips, which was a perfect way to end the day. After the sun, sand, and climbing, I'm exhausted and ready for a solid sleep. In sum: perfect day.

The internet for tourists in this country really does not lend itself to uploading pictures – check back and I'll see if I can add some photographs to my entries when I have some solid bandwidth!