Day 22 - Friday 26 January 2024

Today is the second leg of the double header with Fullers Great Sights, and a trip up to Cape Reinga at the top of New Zealand; not actually the northernmost point, but as near as damnit, and the furthest north the road takes you.

Picked up from my hotel at 07:20, after another couple of pickups we hit the road on what was a long day. The driver was a Maori, and we started the morning with blessings on our trip, blessings on our home lands, and a song to set the right tone for our hopeful safe return.

The first stop was a couple of hours in for coffee and comfort breaks at Taipa before hitting the road once more. I had expected that we'd be on State Highway (SH)1, but there were a series of four cyclones which came through last year, each a once in 100 years event, that had washed SH1 out so we were diverted via SH10. Shortly after Taipa we were able to finally turn onto SH1 for the rest of our journey.

North we kept heading through farmlands where they grow Kiwis, Avocados, Olives, Grapes etc, past Doubtless Bay and Parengarenga Harbour until the scenery changed. Cape Reinga sits on land that is significantly older then the rest of New Zealand; it used to be an island but sand dunes connected it to the mainland, and those dunes have now become established permanently. 

We finally arrived at Cape Reinga at 11.30, and had an hour to explore. I took the path down to the lighthouse, and the scenery was just fantastic. An oh too short time before I had to make my way back to the top of the hill in order to be on time back on the coach. This was the place where the Southern Pacific meets the Tasman Sea.

We retraced our steps to the settlement of Houhora where we had a stop for a fish and chip lunch; this was a lovely spot, but due to the distance we had to travel we only had a half hour here; it was a beautiful inlet surrounded by hills; it reminded me of Cornwall in a lot of ways, and I'd have loved to spend longer here.   

After lunch, we headed along a gravel track and over to the west coast, and 90 Mile Beach. The driver navigated the coach straight onto the beach and down to where the waves lapped before heading back up the beach. Some of the younger folks did some sandboarding where they slid down the dunes. Then they went to the shoreline and dug out some shellfish that they washed and ate ..... not my kind of thing at all.

We then drove down 90 Mile Beach for about 15 minutes before making our way back onto properly sealed roads and our afternoon stop at a Maori visitor centre. 

At this stage we changed transport for a clean bus, and made our way back to Paihia, arriving at just after 18:15. It was a long day of 213km (132 miles) in each direction, but so worth it.

I headed out for a light dinner of Beef Nachos, and then returned to my room to catch up on blog and vlog. Tomorrow I'm back on the road again, so I'll get up early and pack tomorrow; the plan is to find a waterfall or two and explore the west coast back down to where I'll be staying just north of Auckland.