90 Miles of Beach - Nearly

Rather than drive up to Cape Reinga (the most northerly point in New Zealand) last night we have opted for a tour to the cape with Sand Safari.

One advantage of the tour is that we get to actually drive along 90 Mile Beach, something we are not allowed to do in our campervan, and after getting stuck in the mud the other day the last thing we want is stuck in quicksand on 90 Mile Beach…

We are one of the first couples picked up by Danny the tour guide / bus driver and as we set off he tells us about the trip the day before that got turned off the beach by big waves getting washed in by the strong winds.  This makes us think it was a good idea not to camp at the Cape last night.

After a quick stop at the slightly tacky Kauri Kingdom to pick up the others for the tour we head off down the beach.  This is actually quite fun as there are strong winds buffeting us and we power on at 90kms/hr to avoid getting stuck in the soft sand.

After some chat fromDanny about how 90 Mile Beach isn’t actually 90 miles long, a little up the beach we stop to have a look at the famous ‘hole in the rock’ which can’t be seen today due to the bank of sea spray, but we do get the chance to see just how far in some of the waves get at low tide…

Two bus loads of tourists dodging waves

From here we head off the beach and up a stream bed to the massive 200ft TePaki sand dunes.  It’s time to dig out the toboggans and boogie boards and start climbing.

TePaki Sand Dunes - MASSIVE !

Mrs M opts for a toboggan for a graceful slide down the dune, but I decide the only way is the high velocity boogie board and whizz past Mrs M at 30+mph on my second run (so fast in fact Mrs M nearly missed me off the photo completely!).

Am on a boogie board - honest

Here is an example of what it looks like on video (not ours but gives an impression of how fast you go).  Next up is a spot of lunch and then up to the cape just in time for some rain.

Mrs M at Cape Reinga - wet

Up here we see the sacred 800year old Pohutukawa tree as well as the confluence of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean (the choppy water above Mrs M’s right shoulder).

Pohutukawa tree hanging on

The run back from the cape is broken up with some more stunning beaches and the biggest ice cream we have ever had.

Back at the camp site around 5:30 and we have had a great day in far Northland.

Mr & Mrs M

Big Trees and Small Ferries

Today we wake to a lovely sunny day and after breakfast we make our way off the motorcamp considerably easier than our entrance.

We make our way further north along the Kauri Coast and stop off to see the massive Tane Mahuta. 

Lord of the Forest

Over lunch we decide not to head all the way up to Cape Reinga tonight but instead decide to head for Ahipara so we can try and catch one of the tour buses up 90 Mile Beach tomorrow.

On the way to Ahipara we pass through the lovely Hokianaga Harbour, 

Hokianga Harbour

and catch the small ferry from Rawene to Kohukohu.

'Betty' fits on the ferry but only just.

From here it is a short drive to Ahipara where we get onto the site seamlessly and book ourselves onto the Sand Safari tour for tomorrow.  Then its time to get started cooking our first chilli in the campervan. 

#1 McClymont Ass-Kickin' Chilli

Mr & Mrs M

Inauspicious Start

After breakfast at Kelvin and Paulines we pack our things into the campervan, say our goodbyes to the lovely Greyskull the cat and make our way up north through some torrential rain.  

Greyskull the cat

The combination of lush green hills and horizontal rain make us both feel a little homesick for Scotland but we are finally on our way.

We make our way gingerly through the rain up to Northland, via the Kauri Museum in Matakohe  where we see some of the impressively large Kauri trees.

Diameter approx 1.5 times Mrs M !

From the Kauri Museum we head for Dargaville which is the Kumara capital of New Zealand for a few last minute shopping bits before we reach our first motorcamp at Baylys Beach.

As we check in for our powered campervan site the helpful lady at reception warns us to be careful on the site as they have had very heavy rain for the last few days and some of the ground is a little soft.  So we make our way onto the site and find what looks like a good empty berth.  Heeding the advice I get out the van and walkover the site to see how firm it is.  Confident that it isn't too soft I then nose the van into the bay in front before reversing in, and get well and truly stuck in the mud...  

The bay in front clearly wasn't as firm as first thought.  A couple of attempts to get out just continues to dig us deeper and deeper into the mud.  

At this point a number of things happen - 

• The man from the static caravan opposite comes out to tell us this 'happens all the time'.
• The friendly man from the camp site arrives in his 4x4 to pull us out.
• Mrs M is mortified that we are stuck in the mud on our first site.

The friendly man then fails to make our rather large and heavy campervan move with his 4x4 which doesn't help Mrs M's mood very much, but he then comes back with a bigger and heavier 4x4 and eventually gets us out (after digging a 6" deep trench in the camp site.

All in not the most auspicious start to campervaning for us !

Mr M    

  

Kiwi Welcome

When we arrived in Auckland yesterday we were met by Kelvin (a distant relative of mine) who we have never met but have been in contact over the last few months while planning our NZ trip.

Kelvin and his wife Pauline have given us an amazing Kiwi welcome in Auckland and have been looking after us over the last couple of days, including giving us our first home cooked meal for weeks, a tour of Auckland

View over Auckland from one of the many volcanoes (Mt Eden).

and helped to pick up our campervan.  

Kelvin and Pauline have their own campervan and have helped us put together an itinerary from some of their own NZ campervan trips.  A brief idea of our plan can be found here or on the NZ Map Page but it basically 3 weeks in the North Island and 5 weeks in the South Island.

After one more family get together where we met Rebecca (Kelvin and Pauline's daughter) it is time for us to get packed up and get ready for the start of the trip.

Say Cheese !

A huge thank you to Kelvin, Pauline and Rebecca for all their help in getting us sorted out over the last few days / weeks / months.

Mr & Mrs M

 

NZ Here We Come

Off to Auckland today for the start of our big New Zealand tour.  More updates soon.

Mr & Mrs M

Schancks for the Sunshine

Today is a fairly quiet day as it is our last in Oz for a few months (we will be back in Sydney in December).

With the sun out again today we decide to head back to the Cape Schanck lighthouse that we never got to see the other day.

On the way we stop at a number of beaches and enjoy a lightly more colourful jump around than on our way out of the Ocean Road.

When we get to the Cape Schanck lighthouse we are greeted by some amazing scenery,

complete with some pyroclastic igneous geology (One Indian Rupee for scale),

and some nice columnar basalt lava flows at the Pulpit Rock too.  

It was great to be able to see what we missed the other day.

Unfortunately it is then time to head back to our little beach hut motel and get packed up for NZ tomorrow.

Au revoir Australia, we'll be back soon.

Mr & Mrs M