Cape Reinga

On Saturday we did the tourist thing and booked ourselves on a bus tour up to Cape Reinga at the tip of the North Island. The bus trip was 465 km total with 75 km of this driven on the beach and I was pretty happy not to have to do all of that driving myself. We were lucky because the bus held between 50-60 people but we only had 16 on our trip so we had lots of room and spread ourselves across the back of the bus.

From Paihai we drove North through Kerikeri which is the citrus capital of the north but in fact grows everything from mandarins to avocadoes. Our first stop was in the Puketi Kauri Forest where we had some time to walk through the forest and enjoy the views of the impressive Kauri trees. Kauri trees once covered the entire top of the North Island all the way down to south of Auckland but were harvested heavily by the settlers. These native pine trees are unique as their lower branches are self pruning so they grow strong, free flowing wood which was very desirable for masts and for ship building. The trees also produce gum which can be used in paints and resins. So the end result was clearing of much of the native forest and now only a few reserves remain. They are replanting Kauri trees but they are slow to grow and much of their original area has now been converted into farmland.

On the way up to the point we passed through a large beef/sheep station that is owned by the Department of Conservation but is leased to a company to run the livestock. They grazed 4,000 sheep and 2,000 beef cattle on about 22,000 ha of cleared land. I have actually seen more beef breeds up here because there is less dairy influence here.

We drove up the winding highway 11 right to tip of the North Island, Cape Reinga. Here there is a lighthouse that you can walk down to and see where the Pacific Ocean (on the west) meets the Tasman Sea (on the east). There have been some renovations made to the area to make it more accessible and as part of the project they are trying to replant native shrubs and trees in the area. As a way to raise funds they will sell you a native tree or shrub for $20 which you then get to plant and along with this you get a certificate (including the GPS coordinates of your tree). Bree decided to buy a Manuka plant and we planted it up on the hill with the lighthouse in the background. I thought this was a great way to raise funds but the fellow managing the plants said most tourists are not interested. It seems that globally conservation is something everyone seems to want but few really want to pay for it.

We had a brief lunch stop and then the bus headed off the main road and drove down Te Paki quick sand stream to get on 90 Mile Beach. This is a little tricky to navigate and if you stop the vehicle is likely to sink up to its axles in sand. Apparently a few tourists manage to get stranded here but we made it through safely. Considering our driver does this 5 days a week I was not very worried! Just before 90 Mile Beach we stopped and did some sandboarding. If you have never heard of this sport it is exactly as it sounds – going full speed on a board down the sand dunes (basically tobogganing on sand). Bree, mom and I all decided to have a go and hiked up the sand dune with boards in hand. It was quite a trek up but that made the ride down a pretty fast one. Bree went first and was a pro. I went next and was surprised at how fast I went. Lucky for Bree that she had already gone because I might have decided that this was a little too crazy for her. It is one thing to wipe out in snow but the crashes we saw in the sand looked a little more painful (not to mention that a mouthful of sand is much worse than a mouthful of snow). Mom did a nice clean run as well and Bree and I even went up for round two.

From there it was a pleasant drive down 90 Mile Beach. We stopped and Bree managed to get soaking wet playing in the surf but being a prepared mom I had packed an extra set of clothes. The drive down the beach was much faster than the winding roads and it was fun to watch the surf as we drove along. 90 Mile Beach is actually only 64 miles long but they named it back in the day that they drove it with oxen and carts. Apparently they could travel 30 miles a day and it took them 3 days to travel this stretch of beach hence the name 90 Mile Beach.

Overall it was a long but fantastic day. I am glad we did the tour so I could relax and enjoy the views. The weather was beautiful and because it is the off season the crowds were minimal. I imagine in summer that there is a steady flow of traffic out to the lighthouse at Cape Reinga and along 90 Mile Beach. We have a few more days here in Paihai and then it is over to the east coast and back down to Auckland for mom’s trip home.