North of the Wall

Kia Ora,

“A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.”

Just kidding, the winter is far from real yet. Instead, summer still reigns and the terrors of the north lay at bed. And so on a route thick with forest and meandering along the coast, me and Dannii took the bus towards the meeting party in Paihia.

Thomas, Emily and Grandma (alias Sara) would be our companions for this journey. We briefly bumped in to Hanne and her sister also which was an unexpected bonus. Although we could not stay, we had a hostel to get to in the far north. So the party rode on.

As you can see, nobody was terrified of Grandma's driving! ;-)

The hostel was well secluded and a walkable distance away from a salmon pink beach. I did not know of pink beaches before this sight. The rocks were also good for climbing, exploring and contained a large host of crabs.

Dannii and Emilie, on the rocks

Sara and Thomas, on the rocks

As the sun set the rural beach turned in to an unpolluted observatory like no other. The clouds were away and the stars were bright. The disk of Milky Way lay so clear across the sky and shooting stars fell from the heavens. I had never seen the sky so amazing. Even star clusters unique visible only in the southern hemisphere honoured the sky. They appeared almost like two small clouds, but instead it was the dim light of an uncountable number of stars in a cluster. The skies had treated us to a night that no camera lens could truly capture.

The following day, all full of porridge prepared by Emily, we headed as north as we were able: Cape Reigna. The most northern point of New Zealand, Cape Reigna had more to offer than a geographical location. The views from the lighthouse and the neighboring area were amazing. So much so that we made an unscheduled visit to a beach spotted nearby.

A couple of miles south from Cape Reigna

Coastline from Cape Reigna

Admiring the view

When lying on the beach we were treated to a circular rainbow

Afterwards we were all ready to tackle the sand dunes at the northern tip of the 90 Mile Beach. The dunes were much bigger than I expected and ideal for their main attraction: sand duning. We hired out body boards and spent the next couple of hours tackling the desert-like terrain and throwing ourselves down the dunes. This was punishing but a lot of fun, especially on the steeper dunes.

Fed on fish and chips we returned to the hostel and played bowls in the evening. Emily had talked strongly about her game and after a slow start she proved her ability. As the the light dimmed, bowls turned to cards. As the mosquito's entered the scene, playing cards outside turned in to playing cards inside. This was until the siren-like lure of the night sky tempted us outside once more. Danniis legs were sacrificed to the bites of the mosquito's, but otherwise the night was once again incredible.

On the next wake we explored the white sands of Rarawa Beach. We took the opportunity to reenforce our position and constructed a castle from the sand. Rarawa Castle was a masterful design. I was allowed to build a bridge to the side of the actual castle whilst Dannii and Thomas focus on the castle itself, which was kind.

The famous Rawana Castle

We moved further south to explore a section of the 60 mile beach which is appropirately called "The 90 Mile Beach". Exagurated or not, the beach was massive and filled the horizon left and right. It was so large that 4-by-4s were using the beach as a road. It was yet another impressive sight offered to us from New Zealand. Here we took some amazing perspective photo's which I will one day share on this blog when they come in to my possesion.

90 Mile Beach looking North

90 Mile Beach looking south

 

Alas, the drive back to Paihia was the last as our fellowship. As the others left for Auckland, me and Dannii remained; it seemed that Auckland would have to wait a few days for our arrival.

Kia Ora,

Ben