On Top Of The Bottom Of The World
21 juli 2015 - Cape Reinga, Nieuw-Zeeland
Yesterday I decided to take a look in the Paihia visitor center, see what offers they have to explore the bay of islands and the far north. I found the "double dip", one day they'll take you to cape Reinga and the other day you'll go to visit islands by boat. That sounds like fun! So I booked the bus tour to the cape for today and the cruise for next Monday.
This morning the bus picked me up in front of the hostel at 7.30 am and the long tour started. Our first stop was at a Kauri forest. Remember I told you about the kauri, the big ancient trees. We did a ten minutes walk through a forest with a lot of kauris. Most of them are between 600 and 800 years old, but our driver told us, if the kauris are given the chance, they'll live over 6000 years old! Our driver was Auckland kiwi Ariel, not to be confused with the little mermaid. This Ariel was very manly and had certainly no fishtail. After seeing the kauris Ariel drove us via a curvy gravel road to a nice beach. Along the coastline there were a lot of Pohutukawas', you might think what on earth is a putupuka?! Pohutukawas' are also known as the New Zealand Christmas trees, because they only bloom in wintertime. The flowers of these magnificent trees are deep red. Unfortunately it's not Christmas at the moment, but they still looked beautiful with their dark green leaves standing proud along the coastline.
After our lunch, Ariel drove us to cape Reinga, the top of the bottom of the world. This is an holy place for the Maori people. They believe the spirits of the dead travel all the way up here. That's why they also call it the underworld, land of the dead. The view was incredible. Seeing the Tasman Sea and the great Pacific ocean coming together. There is not much to tell about the time I spend at the lighthouse, just watching the sea and the ocean. I don't have the right words to explain it properly. It was so special and I was honored to be there. The sea that's named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. The almighty Pacific ocean, the biggest ocean of the world. The green hills of the coast, the deep blue and aqua blue water. The big white dunes. Just take a look at the photos and try to imagine. Trust me, you'll only get the real feeling when you are up there. That feeling of being unstoppable!
Ariel drove us to the edge of 90 mile beach. Actually this beach isn't 90 miles long, it's 56,5 miles but that just sound stupid and it feels / looks like its 90 miles! We stopped in front of a big dune and it was time for some action. Sandboarding!!!! Woo, wait, what? Yes, sandboarding. Get a surfboard, climb on top of that steep dune, lay with your belly on the board and let go..... Surf down the dune, but keep your head up, you don't want all that sand in your mouth! The sandboarding was a lot more fun than I expected. It was the only thing I wasn't sure about on this trip, but oh man, that was great fun!
After the boarding Ariel started the bus and told us to keep our heads away from the windows, because it will be a bumpy ride and it's expensive to get new ones. New windows. Not new heads :-). He was right. When we started to drive, we were driving to the beach. No road, just sand and it was a stunning, breathtaking scenery! He drove the bus in the water, turned around and I could feel the wheels loosing their grip a little, but we survived. Driving on the 90 mile beach we saw an island in the form of an arch and a couple of seals taking a sunbath. After a while we heard Ariel mumbling something. It was about a bus. We could all see it standing in front of us, but there was something wrong with it. It was not moving and the passengers were walking on the beach. When we got closer we saw the bus was in the water, sinking deeper into the sand. The water was already reaching to its windows! Ariel stopped our bus and went outside to check. When he came back he told us we needed to take these people with us, but there was another surprise. We had to go through the water beside the sinking bus to go further. Because that was our way back to Paihia! The people from in the sinking bus were soaking wet from their chests to their toes! Some were trying to make their phones work, but everything was just too wet!!! Freezing cold, they came in the bus but when they heard Ariel wanted to drive through the water, right next to the spot where their bus sank, most of them got out of the bus again and decided to climb over the rocks to get to the other side of the beach. Some of our people wanted to walk as well, afraid to sink... I saw it differently. If our bus would sink in the sand as well, I'd have a great story to tell and just hope not to drop my camera and phone in the Tasman Sea. That will be the third time I'd drop my phone in the water (first time in the toilet and a second time into a creek). My weird phone will possibly survive a third time ;-)
So there we went. Not right away, because Ariel needed to choose the right moment. We were driving in circles, Ariel watching the water. The water was getting back to the sea and that's when he started to drive as fast as he could. Through the Tasman Sea, right next to the other bus. When we made it to the other side everyone aboard applauded and laughed. Ariel honked at the people who were walking and drove pass them. Of course we didn't leave them behind, that would have been funny though. The bus turned around and picked them up.
The way back to Paihia was long and it was already getting dark. But I had a wonderful day. Seeing cape Reinga. Watching that bus sink deeper and deeper into the sand. The weather couldn't have been better for sandboarding: blue sky, warm sun and a lot of wind.
Hope all my photos will download. Thanks for reading!
This morning the bus picked me up in front of the hostel at 7.30 am and the long tour started. Our first stop was at a Kauri forest. Remember I told you about the kauri, the big ancient trees. We did a ten minutes walk through a forest with a lot of kauris. Most of them are between 600 and 800 years old, but our driver told us, if the kauris are given the chance, they'll live over 6000 years old! Our driver was Auckland kiwi Ariel, not to be confused with the little mermaid. This Ariel was very manly and had certainly no fishtail. After seeing the kauris Ariel drove us via a curvy gravel road to a nice beach. Along the coastline there were a lot of Pohutukawas', you might think what on earth is a putupuka?! Pohutukawas' are also known as the New Zealand Christmas trees, because they only bloom in wintertime. The flowers of these magnificent trees are deep red. Unfortunately it's not Christmas at the moment, but they still looked beautiful with their dark green leaves standing proud along the coastline.
After our lunch, Ariel drove us to cape Reinga, the top of the bottom of the world. This is an holy place for the Maori people. They believe the spirits of the dead travel all the way up here. That's why they also call it the underworld, land of the dead. The view was incredible. Seeing the Tasman Sea and the great Pacific ocean coming together. There is not much to tell about the time I spend at the lighthouse, just watching the sea and the ocean. I don't have the right words to explain it properly. It was so special and I was honored to be there. The sea that's named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. The almighty Pacific ocean, the biggest ocean of the world. The green hills of the coast, the deep blue and aqua blue water. The big white dunes. Just take a look at the photos and try to imagine. Trust me, you'll only get the real feeling when you are up there. That feeling of being unstoppable!
Ariel drove us to the edge of 90 mile beach. Actually this beach isn't 90 miles long, it's 56,5 miles but that just sound stupid and it feels / looks like its 90 miles! We stopped in front of a big dune and it was time for some action. Sandboarding!!!! Woo, wait, what? Yes, sandboarding. Get a surfboard, climb on top of that steep dune, lay with your belly on the board and let go..... Surf down the dune, but keep your head up, you don't want all that sand in your mouth! The sandboarding was a lot more fun than I expected. It was the only thing I wasn't sure about on this trip, but oh man, that was great fun!
After the boarding Ariel started the bus and told us to keep our heads away from the windows, because it will be a bumpy ride and it's expensive to get new ones. New windows. Not new heads :-). He was right. When we started to drive, we were driving to the beach. No road, just sand and it was a stunning, breathtaking scenery! He drove the bus in the water, turned around and I could feel the wheels loosing their grip a little, but we survived. Driving on the 90 mile beach we saw an island in the form of an arch and a couple of seals taking a sunbath. After a while we heard Ariel mumbling something. It was about a bus. We could all see it standing in front of us, but there was something wrong with it. It was not moving and the passengers were walking on the beach. When we got closer we saw the bus was in the water, sinking deeper into the sand. The water was already reaching to its windows! Ariel stopped our bus and went outside to check. When he came back he told us we needed to take these people with us, but there was another surprise. We had to go through the water beside the sinking bus to go further. Because that was our way back to Paihia! The people from in the sinking bus were soaking wet from their chests to their toes! Some were trying to make their phones work, but everything was just too wet!!! Freezing cold, they came in the bus but when they heard Ariel wanted to drive through the water, right next to the spot where their bus sank, most of them got out of the bus again and decided to climb over the rocks to get to the other side of the beach. Some of our people wanted to walk as well, afraid to sink... I saw it differently. If our bus would sink in the sand as well, I'd have a great story to tell and just hope not to drop my camera and phone in the Tasman Sea. That will be the third time I'd drop my phone in the water (first time in the toilet and a second time into a creek). My weird phone will possibly survive a third time ;-)
So there we went. Not right away, because Ariel needed to choose the right moment. We were driving in circles, Ariel watching the water. The water was getting back to the sea and that's when he started to drive as fast as he could. Through the Tasman Sea, right next to the other bus. When we made it to the other side everyone aboard applauded and laughed. Ariel honked at the people who were walking and drove pass them. Of course we didn't leave them behind, that would have been funny though. The bus turned around and picked them up.
The way back to Paihia was long and it was already getting dark. But I had a wonderful day. Seeing cape Reinga. Watching that bus sink deeper and deeper into the sand. The weather couldn't have been better for sandboarding: blue sky, warm sun and a lot of wind.
Hope all my photos will download. Thanks for reading!
I happy that u had a such great time
I wish more nice tour
Ik heb weer voor cinderella gespeeld ook niet mijn hobby.
Blijf genieten en leuke dingen doen. Ben benieuwd naar maandag.
Kus van je omaatje