Sand, sand, and more sand

With bellies full of oatmeal and mini-wheats, we made our way along the snaking road to the very tip of New Zealand, the furthest north you can get, Cape Reinga. High up on the cliffs, you can see all the landscape around, with both rugged coastline and wave-swept rocks, to gigantic dunes of sand. The hillside at the cape itself was adorned with small hardy shrubs, stunted trees, and beautiful wildflowers.

This is an area full of significance both from a cultural as well as a oceanographic point of view. The waters at the cape are actively mixing, with turbulent waters clearly visible where the greater Pacific waters meet the water of the Tasman Sea. For the Maori, this is the point where spirits depart this world for the next. For sailors, the lighthouse marks their arrival in New Zealand and warns of the dangerous coasts around. With the serenity of the location, the swirling of the different layers of blue water, and the almost untouched bounty of nature, it is not difficult to understand why this site holds such spiritual significance. It is the kind of place that you could easily sit and clear ones head, relax and soak in the glorious views that surrounded you. This was definitely on my list of must see places in New Zealand.

Of course, such a place is difficult to keep to one's self and the pure volume of tourists here was amazing, far greater than any lighthouse I had ever been too. The lighthouse itself was full of character, although very similar in architecture to the one at the hole in the wall. There was a signpost as well and it was interesting to see just how far we were from some of the familiar places around the world. Something I had not thought about, but we were closer to the south pole than we were to Canada! With much more left to see, we traversed back up the busy trail to head to our next adventure of the day.

...."We interrupt this blog post to bring you an important sports bulletin. We bring you live to the sand dunes at Giant Te Paki, for the final day of the sand surfing competition. This year has been full of excitement and lots of great races but it has come down to three contestants. From the finish line, we are awaiting the first of the three contestants."

"Stepping up to the mound first is the crowd favorite, the Blonde Blur, he is looking a little nervous here with his red board as he needs to qualify this round to not be eliminated for the finals."

" And he is off, the sand flying everywhere leaving his opponents in a blur as he reaches the bottom in a record time. That assures him a place in the final, as he stands up brushing the sand from his...everywhere."

"Next up for his final run, is The Cannonball. And there he goes, leaving a wake of sandy destruction in his path as he barrels down that slope. He has the momentum but will it be enough to blast his way to the top."

"We stop for a short intermission as the two remaining finalists take the arduous task of scaling the slope, and we catch up with The Cannonball. 'It was a good run, a lot of fun' he says as he wipes the sand from inside his ears."

"Next up is Tech-nicolour, the veteran on the slopes and back up professional "camraman", sporting his signature rainbow shorts. And he's off down the slopes, blinding the spectators on the way down; a side effect of constantly having sand blasted against the skull. He's making great timing and ... yes, he pulls ahead of Cannonball to take the lead in this competition. He's very happy with himself on that run and finishes big wave as he scrapes the sand off his head and out of his mustache."

"Last up is the Blonde Blur, he will need to have as good a run as his last in order to take the title. There he goes, his feet up, throwing caution to the wind he digs in only as he gets closer to the bottom to make sure he doesn't overshoot"

"And that is it folks, the official time is in! The Blonde Blur takes it all and he knows it as he gives us that sandy smile from the finish line. What an exciting day here, and now we will return you to your regular blogging program"

Getting later in the day, we made a trip to Dad's third beach, one known as Rarawa Beach. The incredibly soft white sand was like a warm snow beneath our feet. The incoming dark clouds and crashing waves were a stark contrast to the paleness of this sandy shoreline. Much like Cape Reinga, the wildness and serenity of the spot were refreshing as we walked barefoot along the warm but not searing sand.

The high part of the beach was full of flotsam cast upon the beach by the strong waves of the Pacific. Insects and small crustaceans darted between seaweed looking for a meal and goose barnacles lay stranded on their light volcanic rock which was their vessel in days gone by.

And the dunes alive with dancing grasses in the breeze, made for a great rest after the searing heat of the sand surfing. Personally, of all the beaches, this was now my favourite, so far from civilization and so peaceful. But alas, we had one more beach to get too and the weather was not likely to cooperate much longer, so off to the iconic Ninety Mile Beach.

Now, I am well aware there are likely other places to access the beach, but this one in particular was far from ideal. A logging road really, but unfortunately, it was probably one of the messiest clear cutting I had ever seen. It would have been nice, as a tourist, to have had the felled trees cleaned up and replanting started in all the cutting areas, not just a few.

After passing the barren wasteland, we did finally arrive at the beach. It was indeed long, stretching as far as the eye could see in either direction. Perhaps we had seen too many gorgeous beaches but personally, I was not overly impressed. We took the opportunity either way to get out and stretch our legs as Mom commandeered the car for some beach driving. 

With the better part of the day behind us, and grumbling stomachs, we ventured back to civilization for food and much needed rest. It was nice to sit around the picnic table at the campsite and discuss our favourite part of the trip thus far, trying not to think that in three days we would be saying goodbye to part of our company.