90 miles beach
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2006
1
234
551
Trip End
Dec 01, 2007
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Puneki,
New Zealand
Sunday, January 7, 2007
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After a night without much sleep, I woke up coughing badly, to the point I had to get up cause I was clearly being a real hassle for the rest of the dorm.
Patricia and Cendrine picked me up at 10, and we headed north. They were going there with their rental car, and agreed to take me along.
We followed the touristic scenic route along the coast, first stopping at Matauri Bay, where we took a walk on the beach and then on small cliffs. Further north, beautiful Whangaroa was overlooked by a big rocky mountain. I stayed in the car to try rest a bit while the girls climbed up there, and then we had a picnic lunch together. The landscapes in that part of Northland was made of hills, forest, and green all around. Orchards, a few rivers, cows instead of sheep, and the NZ beauty at every corner, in the color of the grass, in the glittering of water, in the match of sky and earth. Harmony and beauty to the eye, like elsewhere in the world, except that in NZ it is to be found everywhere and anytime.
We made it to the southern end of 90 miles beach, on that last stretch of land protruding north. We decided to go to Pukenui for the night, about halfway up 90 miles beach. We found a "farmstay backpacker", cheap and isolated, perfect. The only proposed farming activity though was to watch the milking of the cows, and we did not even assist to that high feat of daily farm life.
We had to take the car to 90 miles beach (or walk 3h, which was not exactly the best thing for a coughing chest). Although the beach was only 90 kilometers long, it was a great place. Behind the dunes, forests of pine trees. I took pleasure in making a very intelligent remark, for once that I was with frenchi
es: "it's the same as in the Landes (in France), really there was no need to travel 20.000 km to see pine forests and dunes and another endless sand beach". That was true in some way, yet I would never adopt such a position: I was really happy to be there, at the other side of the world, so far and different and similar. The water was far away, the sand hard, the beach endless on both sides. Reflection of the sky on the wet sand, crashing noise of the chaotic waves.
At times the beach could feel like a highway, with 4wd cars or buses speeding on it, a popular trip. They should definitely do it with sail chariots, it would be much more fun than just driving along, dunes on one side, water on the other.
Some people stopped to run their dogs, take a dip, try to surf, fish, or even send their kids playing in the dunes with noisy motorbikes.
After a long walk on the beach, we returned to our guesthouse to have dinner and a restful night..
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