North to Cape Reinga!
I had a pleasant stay at the Kaihu farm, learned lots and veged plenty. So here I am waiting for the Magic bus.
So we set off from there, and I got to see Tane Mahuta! For the un-informed, Tane Mahuta is Maori for "King of the forest". This tree was pretty big, but you can't get too close to it. The roots are sensitive, and walking on them can actually kill the tree. Being as this is the kiwi's oldest Kauri tree, they would be pretty excited if you kill this tree! (or any Kauri for that matter.)
I had the great fortune of sitting next to a Christian teacher from Sydney. She was traveling around on her holiday. Our bus stopped at this place on the west coast...
...and these neat waterfalls. Got some of those back in Canada.
We got to Paihia for the night.
Paihia was probably my least favourite of all the places I've been. It was full of tourists, expensive tours, bars, nightclubs, and payphones. Don't expect any "freebies" here.
The next day I set out on the Cape Reinga tour. After meandering through the usual hilly countryside, our "specially equipped" 4wd bus turned off, and drove on the beach! The Ninety-mile Beach is a well-known landmark, you can see it on all the maps of New Zealand. The tasman came crashing in on the left as we drove the beach at low tide. Our driver informed us that it was a 60 mile beach, not 90. The name had already been made famous from word of mouth, as well as from documentaries. A little late to change the name.
You'll get stuck here if you're not careful! It does not take long for these car wrecks to sink out of sight.
This was our view inland.
A hole in the rock.
Dune-boarding! Although I don't have any photos of it in action, we carried boogie boards up the sand dune, and came back down very fast! You drag your feet in the sand, and that is how you keep yourself straight. Things can get hairy pretty quick if you fall of your board. Unlike snow, sand just grabs you, so you don't want to stick any limbs into it at speed.
As we got close to the cape, it became very foggy. I wanted my money back! It's about a 15 minute walk out to the lighthouse/viewing area.
This was really informative. Next to the lighthouse is a pole with pointers to different places and the distance in nautical miles. You can read most of the signs in this picture.
The lighthouse itself!
Here you can see the spot where the Tasman sea and the Pacific ocean trade blows. Up in about the center of the photo. I've heard that on a clear day you can see the color difference between the two bodies of water, but I was just glad the mist cleared up enough to see it.
It's really odd, the waves materialize in that area, going any direction.
If you look to your right to the East/North, this is the view you get.
On my stroll back to the carpark, I noticed a single white rose growing at the edge of the cliff! Very cool.
Our bus driver took us to a Kauri museum on our way back to Paihia. There were many pieces of furniture made from Kauri wood, cut from a massive trunk found under the dirt in a field. Part of the trunk can be seen in this picture, where they turned it into a stairway! The furniture was absurdly expensive, an ergonomically shaped couch of Kauri wood was worth $22,000!
Back to Paihia, and after a day off, I took the tour bus back to Auckland.
Jan 23rd and 24th.
posted by Jordan Olson @ 5:24 PM
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