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| South end of 90 Mile Beach |
We stayed in our best hostel yet (we absolutely loved Endless Summer Lodge), and the next day we headed to Cape Reigna. That's is the northernmost place we will get in New Zealand. The actual northernmost point is at the Surville Cliffs a few miles to the east, but we liked the cape well enough.
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| Looking south from the cape |
Most people who go to Cape Reigna drive north over 90 Mile Beach, but we thought driving our rental car up the beach was a bit too risky, so we took the sealed road. Basically 90 Mile Beach is the west coast of a thin sliver of land that stretches all the way north. The sealed road goes along the middle of it. Unlike most of New Zealand's roads, this one is quite straight.
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| Cape Reigna lighthouse |
Our first stop was the lighthouse at Cape Reigna. Because this is where the Tasman Sea and Indian Ocean meet, the waves break in the middle of the blue. Quite spectacular to watch.
After the Cape, we stopped at nearby Tapotupotu Bay to have lunch. A very crunchy lunch, since the wind was blowing a lot of sand in it! I can't remember a sand filled lunch from my childhood, like so many people have had at a summer beach, but now I can finally relate.
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| Te Paki sand dunes in the middle of green vegetation |
On our way south we made another few stops, the Te Paki dunes being the most impressive.
What feels to us as typical of New Zealand, are the sudden changes in landscape. Like at Te Paki: the green vegetation stops suddenly at the bottom of the sand dunes, where a little stream flows. No 'in between'.
But the Te Paki dunes are huge! That's why many people sand board here, we forgot to take some boards from the hostel, so we just exhausted ourselfs running up (sort of) and down them.
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| Te Paki sand dunes, with the sand boarders |
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