Patrick and Kari's Travels

Last weekend our hosts at Avalon gave Pat and me two days off to explore. So Friday after planting a few bulbs and whacking some weeds we headed north. Our plan to discover as much of New Zealand as possible is going well so far.

Our first night we camped at the tip of the Karikari peninsula (that’s my name!). The campsites here are different than in the states. Instead of being separated individually the campsites are all just in an open field. Not much of a problem, but certainly they don’t allow for any of the privacy campsites in the US do. We set up camp and headed down to the beach for a sun down stroll. As we were trying to fall asleep I heard the familiar noise of a possum. I got out and tried to find him, sadly I have yet to see one alive. My late night possum search did however manage to let enough mosquitoes in to make for an unhappy Patrick in the morning.


Saturday morning we headed for Cape Reigna. The cape is one of the northern most points in the country and sits at the end of the 90 mile beach. We arrived at the cape after what seemed like a long drive on a gravel road. Pat and I were surprised to find the cape was packed. Apparently Cape Reigna is a huge tourist draw. There were three or four big buses loaded down with tourists. The buses load up further south and then drive on the 90 mile beach up to the cape. Despite the crowd Cape Reigna was beautiful. We walked down a path to the lighthouse, upon looking out into the sea noticed waves from two directions colliding - the meeting point of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean.



After enjoying the point we headed for Te Paki, the giant sand dunes. Driving to the dunes was harrowing. The tourist buses which at the point seemed so docile loaded down with pale Europeans seemed to ignore both speed limits on the road and traditional road safety values. After being nearly run off the road by two full size buses and one short 4 x4 bus we turned off the main gravel road and headed to the sand dunes. Though there were no tourist buses to run us off the road to the dunes we were almost comprised by a police SUV, which like the buses was speeding and hogging the road. Thankfully we made it safely to Te Paki.

I have never seen anything like the dunes. They were enormous. We walked along a stream bed and ended up on the 90 mile beach looking out over the Tasman Sea. The beach was empty in both directions to the horizon, a 90 mile beach without development or even people. It was unreal. On our walk back to the car we hiked up one of the largest dunes to get a better view and take some photos. The smooth sand engulfed our feet with each step. At the top we met some sand surfers (people use body boards to ride the dunes, it looks a lot like sledding on snow), and then headed back down.





Saturday night we camped at a small campground along a river near the ocean. The area wasn’t quite as nice as our first sight but we made due. Sunday we headed back towards Avalon stopping occasionally along the Pacific shoreline to stretch our legs and explore. In a tide pool in Doubtless Bay we saw two true starfish - in my opinion a perfect way to end our holiday.


Kari