The Far North

After all the hiking we had done the day before, we needed some time to recoup.  Enter Maitai Bay.  At the end of the remote Karikari Peninsula, a sacred Maori headland divides two bays.  The northern of the two is Maitai Bay, and it just so happens that the DOC operates a highly revered campsite just beyond it's shores.  Short of providing actual Maitais, the site provided everything we needed to recharge our batteries.  You could hear the waves crashing on the beach from our campsite!  To wrap up the day, we dined at the "World Famous Mangonui Fish Shop" which supposedly does the best fish and chips in all of New Zealand.  While our experience is limited, it was surely the best we've had.  After I awoke the next morning it became apparent that I'd had a run in with the infamous New Zealand sandflies while lying on the beach (and maybe a few mosquitos too).  Guess no place is perfect.  

Maitai Bay

Fish and Chips

and bug bites!

At this point, our time in the Northlands was coming to an end, with the northern most part of the Northlands, and indeed New Zealand a two hour drive from the campsite.  We arrived in Cape Reinga mid afternoon and took a stroll to the lighthouse where they had one of those tacky-but-fun signs that showed the distance to various cities around the globe  (10,479 km to Los Angleles!).  Cape Reinga is one of the most important spiritual sites for the Maori people, as it is believed that when they die, their spirit leaves NZ for the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki by way of the beach at Cape Reinga.  Another interesting geographical phenomenon is that Cape Reinga is where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, and the clashing currents of the two waters actually creates whirlpools that you can see from the shore!

The lighthouse at Cape Reinga 

The whirlpools formed by the currents of the Tasman Sea meeting with the currents from the Pacific Ocean

Lands End, the departure point of souls to Hawaiki.

At last it was time to turn back and head south, our time in the Northlands had turned it's corner.  But there was one more stop to make near the northern tip of NZ.  On the northern edge of 90 Mile Beach there exists giant sand dunes the likes of which no man has ever seen before…Ok, maybe I got a little carried away with that.  But they are pretty awesome!

We stumbled through a wormhole and ended up in Saudi Arabia!

Luckily for us, there was a van in the carpark renting boogie boards and after struggling to climb up, we boogied and boarded our way down the massive dunes at breakneck speeds.  Sweet as!  

Tons o fun!