The Far North

As per the update earlier today, disregard my warning about continuing with your e-mail subscription to the blog. My Apple Mail iCloud account was stacking all of the posts together and it looked to me like one huge and growing e-mail was being sent out with each post. Thanks Andrew for letting me know this was not happening and I have sorted it out on my end. It's Ok to re-subscribe if you quit.

This morning we were up early to drive to Kaitaia to board our tour vehicle for a trip to Cape Reinga, the northern tip of NZ. We departed the Harrison's Panelbeater's Tour Centre at 8:45 on a "purpose built" truck/bus capable of cruising the beach at 80 - 100 kph.

The beach leg of the trip is planned based on tidal conditions so there is sufficient beach width to run on. The driver decided to take the beach route on the way north so we started out but had to stop and wait a bit for the tide to recede further for a safe run. This provided an opportunity to take some beach photos of 90 mile beach that is really only 64 miles long.

We stopped at a couple of places along the way to wait for the tide to go out and one unplanned one after hitting some water at 80 kph that was apparently deeper than expected. The wake was at window level. The diesel engine immediately quit, I think it ingested some seawater although the driver Jason, thought it was an electrical problem. After about 15 minutes, he got it re-started and we continued on to some really big sand dunes.

I decided I had to give the sand surfing a try. It was a tough climb to the summit in the very soft fine sand but I made it and clipped my new GoPro Camera to my hat. Unfortunately, immediately after launching it unclipped but I was able to grab it and continue my slide with it in my hand. It was a lot faster sand slide that the one I did at White Plains NM.

Then I lost my hat....

Unfortunately the video clip was too big to post in the blog...

After this it was time for a lunch stop at Otangawiti Bay.

We then travelled to Cape Rienga and a walk to the lighthouse. This is a Maori spiritual place where the dead exit the island for the spiritual world. An interesting process described through a number of interpretative signs.

On our ride back to Kaitaia, we stopped at a shop where they fashioned a number of articles from Kauri wood that is over 25,000 years old. This wood is recovered by excavating it from the sandy soil where it has been buried by ancient tsunamis. The trees are huge but unfortunately have been mostly harvested in the early 20th century. The wood can only be exported as finished goods, hence the $10,000 price tag on the dining table.

We returned to our apartment to Mangonui.

We intended to go to the Waterfront Cafe for supper but there were no tables available inside and it was starting to get chilly.

We walked up the road and got some take out fish & chips to take back to the apartment. Good idea as it started to rain shortly after we got home and that outside table at the Cafe would have been little uncomfortable!

I finally solved a problem that has been sort of bugging me. Usually I have a pretty good sense of direction. It has been a bit out of calibration ever since we got to NZ. It finally dawned on me what has been going on. At home, the sun rises in the east moves through the south and sets in the west. In the southern hemisphere, it still rises in the east of course, but moves through the north to set in the west. I think this is what is causing the confusion to my internal GPS!

Kiwi word of the day - "Panelbeater" - a vehicle auto body repair person.