May 20, 2007, Kaitaia, New Zealand

Cape Reinga lighthouse - northend of NZ.

 

Bob and Esther.

 

Cape Reinga lighthouse.

 

Date:  Sunday, May 20, 2007

Kaitaia, New Zealand

Today we were picked up at the campground about 10AM for the 90 Mile Beach trip.  This time it seemed like a long ride up highway 1 but still interesting.  We made a couple of stops along the way one for ice cream.  I’m still preferring Hokey Pokey the national flavor favorite here in New Zealand.  We went on up to the Cape Reinga light house and the very Northern most point of land that you can drive to in New Zealand.  It’s a beautiful vista and the meeting of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean in a never ending expanse of visible water is truly a sight.  The waves from the Pacific join seemingly opposing waves from the Tasman resulting in a confusion of waters.

 

The driver then took us to a nice little bay (the same as last year) where we had a packed lunch that was supplied by the bus company.  From there the next stop was at the giant sand dunes and some sand boarding.  After the hike up the dune I was optimistic about being able to make it to the stream but had a wipe out about two thirds of the way down.  Nothing hurt but ate some sand.

 

The bus trip back down the beach was fast with just a couple of stops for photos and then pulled right up the beach exit and into the campground.  Tonight we are having dinner in the campground restaurant which will be lamb with trimmings.

 

A pretty good day all in all.

 

The Tasman meets the Pacific.