A bright sun in a clear blue sky awakes us. It looks like a perfect day to
visit the northernmost tip of New Zealand or Te Hika o te Ika (tail of
the fish) as the Maori call it. It's a rugged and desolate peninsula of about
100 km length and about 20 km wide, flanked by forests, high sand dunes and
Ninety Mile Beach. The beach "road" is the most adventurous but over
time several cars have hit soft sand and were swallowed by the tides. All rental
company prohibit the use of their cars on Ninety Mile Beach so we have to take
the SH1 to Cape Reinga.
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The last 20 km to Cape Reinga is a winding gravel road.
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The first 80 km the road is a rather straight road offering nice views over the
surroundings. The traffic is light. At Waitiki Landing the road becomes a gravel
road. Fun to drive except when somebody drives right in front of you. Dust all
over! Fortunately we're very early and the number of cars remains low. After 20
km of winding gravel we arrive at our destination: Cape Reinga.
The lighthouse at Cape Reinga |
The end of New Zealand |
According to popular believe Cape Reinga is the northernmost place in New Zealand.
In reality, however, the northernmost point is North Cape, some 30 km to the east.
But for most tourists, looking out over the endless sea, the lighthouse at Cape
Reinga is the place where New Zealand ends. A sign indicates the distances from
here to several places (e.g. London and Tokyo) around the world. Directly below
the lighthouse, the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean in the Columbia Bank maelstrom.
In stormy weather the waves can easily reach heights of 10 m or more.
Cape Maria van Diemen |
Cape Reinga isn't the most western part of New Zealand either. Cape Maria van
Diemen claims that title. The hike to Cape Maria van Diemen takes about five hours
return, a little bit to long to fit in our plans so we only walk part of it, down
to Te Werahi Beach and up to Cape Reinga again. A gentle breeze keeps the temperature
pleasant but the sun, high in the sky, is silently and unnoticed changing the
color of our skin to red. Three hours later we're back on track to Te Paki, about
15 km south of Cape Reinga.
At Te Paki there are about 7 sq km of giant sand dunes on either side of Te
Paki Stream. Having seen the sand dunes at Sossus Vlei in Namibia, we wonder
whether they will be as impressive. They are, but different. The Te Paki dunes
are white and form a large island in a green setting where the Namib dunes are
red in a sea of other red dunes. But they seem as high and the sand definitely
is as hot. In the meantime the red color of our skin deepens.
Sand dunes at Te Paki |
Te Paki Reserve |
At about 4 pm it's time to leave again. We go back to the SH1 and reach Kaitaia
just before the local Warehouse closes. Again it's not possible to buy a new tent
instead of our leaking one. We decide to buy a canvas cloth to put over our tent
instead. We also buy some better pegs, new plates mugs and the other things that
were not supplied by Otago. At least we're better prepared now. The last stretch
for today passes quickly and we arrive at Paihia at about 7.30 pm. Pancakes for
dinner and the soft murmur of Haruru Falls in the background: this is fun!
Haruru Falls by night |
