Day 12: Almost at the far end of the Far North

We were off early today with Tom, our chauffeur, who arrived to ferry us to the meeting point for the Dune Ride, at the Kingdom of the Kauris.  It turned out that Tom had in fact set up the company, these days run by his children, and he liked to come up during the season to help out.  He was very entertaining and we gathered that he was a man with ideas who wasn't afraid to put them in to practise.  I reckon he will be very well heeled!

Whilst waiting for other passengers to arrive, we toured the exhibits in the Museum and the shop.  There were some incredible Kauri carvings and to get to the upper floor you used a staircase hollowed out from a Kauri trunk.

Once everyone had arrived we were off on the specially adapted buses along the highway to Cape Reinga.  En route we called in at the Gumdigger Park to see how the diggers toiled in deep holes searching out the gum which had bled from the kauri trees - tough job but worth it I guess for the return.  We viewed a kauri tree which was partially excavated some years ago and today is worth half a million dollars!

After the tour we drove on to the Waitiki Community for our fine lunch in their restaurant, simple but tasty.  No food/eating is allowed on Cape Reinga as it is a sacred place for the Maori.

From Waitiki we drove on to the Cape with stunning views on all sides, and no gift shops or litter, and all free.  We walked down to the lighthouse to view it, and the 800 year old pohutukawa tree which is the point of departure for Maori spirits from the island to their ancestral home of Hawaiki.

 All around is the deep blue of the ocean and nothing as far as you can see. Offshore can be seen the meeting of the waters where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean and creates a broiling of the waters.

Back on board the bus, Daniel our driver and son of Tom our chauffeur, drove us to Te Paki Stream which forms the entry point to Ninety Mile Beach.  There is concern at present because the stream is very dry and this has meant that the sandy bed is hazardous to inexperienced drivers.  Daniel negotiated it without problem, despite him injecting some drama into his commentary!

We stopped halfway down the stream to go dune surfing which involved climbing up a very high dune (one step forward, two steps back!) with a body board and then hurtling down it - terrific fun!

A few goes at that and then we drove further down the Te Paki stream to the Ninety Mile Beach and 70k of fast driving on the wet sand.  More great value for money! (NZD55 per adult which includes Gumdigger Park entrance, lunch in Maori Community, visit to Cape Reinga, dune surfing and bus ride on Ninety Mile Beach - we used Petricevich Cape Tours)

Back at Oscar the Van it was time for a cuppa and then we unhitched the bikes and took off to explore the forest across the road from the Holiday Park.  After a long, straight ride down the track we diverted over the dunes and hit the beach, riding south for a while before turning back towards the Waipapakauri ramp - most enjoyable cycling and waving to all the cars flashing past.

The folks in the motorhome next to us are from Bingley!