Having made the decision to travel to Paihia, I really have
to travel to the northerly most point of New Zealand, Cape Reinga and its promise
of seeing the Tasman Sea meeting the Pacific. I have had to book a tour to take
this trip. The tour is excellent but at over NZ$100 I can already tell that my
budget is going to take quite a hit in New Zealand. Due to its popularity, the
tour had to be booked in advance and because of this I was unable to check on
the weather forecast. Which is why I am
standing in the wind and torrential rain waiting for the tour bus to pick me up
outside or the tourist office at 7am.
As much as I touristing on mass like this, the
bus driver/guide is excellent and there are quite a few solo travellers on the
bus to talk to. We take the obligatory stop at the Kauri wood forest and traipse
past some colossal trees in the rain and then it is onto the sand for the 50
mile drive up 90 mile beach
The ‘highlight’ of the trip is to be sand boarding down one
of the huge dunes. When the driver asks whether we want a big dune or little
dune, everyone, except me, of course opts for the big one. I have every
intention of waiting this activity out but when every last person grabs a board
and starts the climb up the hill I find by self following along with them,
board in hand. It is peer pressure alone that gets me onto the board at the
top, and I begin by descent, toes firmly in the sand to slow me down all the
way. So much so that when I get to the bottom there is no nail varnish left on
them and not much nail.
All the way we have been hoping for a break in the weather,
and when we stopped to do the sand boarding it did look as if it was
brightening up however when we get to our final destination Cape Reinga the
weather has completely closed in and we have a miserable walk down to the
iconic lighthouse. And as for the promise
of seeing the Tasman meeting the Pacific, well I cannot even see a meter in
front of my face let along see the sea or indeed what colour it is.
Oh well, I guess I am just going to have to make sure that I
come back one day.
