Cape Reinga and back
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2007
1
8
91
Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
Cape Reinga,
New Zealand
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Today we woke up way too early (again!) for the Cape Reinga day tour. It was a long, but pretty awesome day.
First off, we went to this place called "kauri kingdom" where they had a bunch of crafts, furniture etc made of ancient kauri trees, super pricey. It was cool though, they had a giant chunk of log with a staircase actually carved INSIDE of it. Then, we drove right through the surf along 90 Mile beach to get to the cape. this was actually only 64 miles or so. It was pretty amazing to look out the wondow and see the surf right there. We also saw the cutest baby seal, our driver tooted the horn and he even hopped around a bit!
Along the way, we stopped for some sandboarding. Wow. The dune was HUGE, and I was definitely huffing and puffing.. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it up! Nothing a few hits of my inhaler didn't eventually cure, but tough at the time. After sandboarding down, I think sand had entered into every orifice possible... ears, nose, all around the eyelids and eyebrows, etc. I showered and I still don't think its all out!
The Cape itself was awesome. This is the northernmost point of New zealand. It is also where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea meet, so you can see this pretty clearly right in the middle of the water! This is also where the famed sign saying how far certain destinations are, however three of them were snapped off.
On the way home, we stopped for fish and chips, which was delicious, and then we took a short walk through an ancient kauri forest. these trees are native to NZ. We also stopped at a fruit/veg stand, so I stocked up on bananas and apples and some milk as well. It was quite cheap considering we've been paying $1 per piece at convienience stores!
Once we got back, the 6 of us wandered around to find some dinner. We ended up at a really nice little waterfront place with an aqaurium inside. (It was so dark you couldn't see outside anyways!) We splurged, I got salt & pepper squid, a glass of wine, and Kayla and I shared dessert. It was a bit pricey, but it was incredible. I also got a lovely surprise when I signed onto my banking to get reminded the price conversion- turns out my $1044 trip is only $864 CDN! That was definetely sweet as. (I'm slowly integrating the slang into my speech!)
I am going to be staying in town here for about a week, just doing hikes and relaxing and enjoying the scenery, at a place called Cap'n'Bobs. I'll be cleaning a few hours in exchange for accom, and the jazz festival happens to be this weekend as well, which is a bonus.
XOXO
Shawna
