Headin' Up North

Last weekend was a long weekend for the Queen's Birthday, so we headed up to the far north part of New Zealand to an area that we hadn't visited before. Here's how the trip went...

SATURDAY:
We got up early and headed out on our journey. I will say that in all of our driving adventures all over New Zealand, the roads never get any better--they are all narrow and windy and steep and don't work well when you're in the passenger seat! Anyway--despite that fact, we made it up to a town called Ahipara in just under 4 hours. Ahipara is the southern-most town on 90 Mile Beach...which is exactly what is sounds like, a continuous strand of beach that is 90 miles long! The town itself, I must admit, was less than desirable, but we headed to the bach we rented to drop off our groceries. They were still working on cleaning the unit, so we headed back into town to grab lunch at...where else...McDonald's! Drew was sufficiently sketched out by some of the fellow patrons, so we shoveled some food in our mouths and then took the rest to go! We headed back to the bach and were pleasantly surprised at the beautiful beach views! We were contemplating going sand sledding on some nearby sand dunes, but since it was so late in the day and the closest parking lot was still an hour walk to the dunes, we opted for a walk on the beach instead. There were actually some crazy guys out in the water surfing and I think Drew suddenly wished he had brought his board and wetsuit with him.

After that, we snuggled up by the fire...strike that, the heater...and relaxed for a bit. Then it was time for dinner...homemade spaghetti and meatballs!! Unfortunately, the 'stove' turned out to be more of a hot plate, so it was a little challenging, but still delicious! Post-dinner, we opted for a throw-back game of mancala which neither of us had played in decades! Lastly, we watched a couple episodes of '24'...one of my favorite shows and one Drew has never seen!

SUNDAY:

We didn't really sleep in much because we knew we had a lot to do that day! So we got up and tried to make pancakes (using real Aunt Jemima pancake mix from the American Store), but to no avail...so we opted for simple scrambled eggs and bacon instead. Then, we stopped at Subway to get some sandwiches for the road and we headed off even further north to Cape Reinga--the northern most point in New Zealand. Again, the roads were treacherous but it was worth it when we got there. Luckily, we had amazing weather (considering June here is equivalent of December back home), so it made for a nice day of driving and walking around.


When we got to Cape Reinga, we walked all the way down to the lighthouse and got some pretty cool pictures (see below):

The point where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean

 
         



Since we couldn't go any further north, we headed back down south and stopped at the Te Paki sand dunes on the way back to the bach. You literally had to drive through someone's private cow and sheep farm to get to dunes, but it was spectacular to see these massive dunes right next to a forest and pastures.
 

Unfortunately, we had been told that people would be there renting sleds to go sand sledding, but they were nowhere to be found. Instead, we just hiked up to the top of one of the dunes and saw some cool views.







Then, we had a picnic lunch of Subway in the parking lot before heading back to Ahipara.






When we got back, we got rid of all the sand, stopped by the beach for a few and then engaged in some serious mancala battles. We ate spaghetti leftovers for dinner and finished the night off with a few more episodes of '24'.

MONDAY:
We made breakfast again, packed up and said goodbye to the beach! Then it was back to the real world of getting groceries, doing laundry and getting things situated for this week.

It was a fun little weekend getaway and a great chance to see a new part of New Zealand. Unfortunately, we don't have many more weekend trips planned anytime soon, but we'll see what comes along!

Cheers,