Welcome back!

So ill start where we left off following the last installment...

Monday morning we departed Red Beach on our journey to the far north and ultimately Cape Reinga, ending up in Dargaville for the night. Not much to say, its one of those places you drive 'through' rather than 'to'. Only thing of note was Aimee 'walking in' on a slightly larger than average Maori woman on the bog! Needless to say Aimee was more embarassed than said Maori woman! Ooh, we also visited Woolworths! Thats right, Woolies lives on! We even have pictures to prove it!

So after all the fun and games of Dargaville and having paid for the luxury of a sat nav (she's called Jane by the way) we decided to use her extensive powers of direction and continue north. Job done - or so we thought...

With Jane being a nice old gal she took it upon herself to miss out the car ferry and instead of heading along the coast (which we wanted to do) we were off inland, eventually arriving at Whangarei. Jane's also Aussie. Explains a lot...

As it turns out though, this was also the home of the Whangarei Falls (shock horror) which were actually really nice. So nice in fact that we stopped for our hearty granola lunch (hand made by Aimee) overlooking the falls. Not a bad little view. Beats Grantham/Oakham any day. Jane was instantly forgiven.

After an hour or so drive we reached Kaitaia stopping briefly at their 'I-Site' (their version of Tourist Information) booking our Sand Safari trip to Cape Reinga and Ninetly Mile Beach (which is actually 64 miles. Makes sense!) for the following morning and getting some directions to the camp site for the night...

So the next morning we were up bright and early to wait for our bus (and check on the Chelsea Liverpool score). 08:30 on the dot our trusty guide "Senny" rocked up and we were off! He did tell us his Maori name but im not even going to try and spell it for you!

He was a top guy though, telling us the Maori names of all the places we passed through along with a bit of the history of the area. He even serenaded us with some traditional Maori classics! Top man.

Our first stop on the tour was "The Ancient Kauri Kingdom", which is basically a workshop where they produce all sorts of wooden articles from the ancient Kauri tree's that have been dug up and a shop that sells them.

In case you dont know, the Kauri wood that is worked on is from trees that have been buried for between 40,000 and 100,000 years beneath swamps, having been flattened, experts believe as a result of a Tsunami.

So after that tourist trap we were back on the road with our next stop being the Gum Diggers Park, which is an old site from the 1800's where people had dug for the 'gum' from the ancient Kauri tree's that were buried in the area. Again, it was ok and quite interesting but nothing spectacular. Imagine some holes in the floor and a few shacks that people used to live in.

30 minutes later we were back on the coach and Senny was powering along towards our third stop, which thankfully (we were wasting away!) was lunch on a small bay on the way north. It was really nice although let down slightly by the fact that all of the tour buses seem to stop at exactly the same places, meaning that the stops all end up being crowded and surrounded by people. The sarnies and cake were nice though!

Following salvation in the form of a mixed salad, cheese and ham sarnie (and a peice of cake) we again made tracks up to our main destination of Cape Reinga.

The place itself is amazing, as you walk up the short gravel path towards the lighthouse (which still functions) whichever way you look is just a panoramic view of stunning scenery. Its also the point at which the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet. You can even see the exact point as the two conflicting tidal patterns meet causing a line of waves in the middle of the water (apparently during bad weather the waves can be as high as ten feet in height).

As well as the setting itself though the point is also of huge cultural importance to the Maori people as it is said that the spirits of the dead make their journey along ninetly mile beach to the Cape in order to pass down the roots of the ancient tree hanging on the cliff face to their final resting place.

Next on our schedule was ninety mile beach - IN THE BUS! Thats right, put your specs away, you read that right the first time. The bus actually drives down the beach. The same beach that we are not allowed on for fear of getting stuck. Along the sand and through a couple of rivers. Didnt i tell you that Senny was a top guy!?

First stop on the beach itself was the giant sand dunes, down which we were offered the opportunity to sledge. As if we were turning down that kind of opportunity!

So, I ascended first with Aimee waiting at the foot with camera in hand. Its a bloody long way up though, its only when you get to the top that you realise just how high it is.

After getting in position though i hit the slope, only to realise half way down that i was on course to hit a bald man at the bottom. A couple of yells along the lines of "OI!" were aired with no reaction so drastic measures were taken with my arms thrust into the sand as makeshift anchors...

Bad idea!

Next thing i know the sledge has flipped and im off down the dune head first performing some strange cartwheel. Needless to say Aimee thought it was hilarious and im still finding sand in some extremely iffy places!

Aimee was next up and it goes without saying that she came down a little more gracefully than i did (all the way to the bottom without falling out, typical). She did take AGES to take the plunge though once at the top. Wimp.

So with plenty of sand as a souvenir we climbed on to Senny's vessel and hit the beach, snaking through a river and then along 64 miles or so of amazing beach before heading back onto the highway towards Ahipara where we were staying.

All in all a grand day out was had by all.

We had planned to take it easy when we got back to the camp site, bit of laundry and an early night. Never turns out as you plan though does it?

Lets just say that a couple of Germans decided to attempt to seize permanent control of both washing machines AND the dryer. What is it with the Krauts? If its not sunbeds its washing machines! Somebody really should teach these people to share. Sorry if anyone reading this is German but it has to be said...

Anyway, after waiting about half an hour we 'removed' said Germans washing ourselves.
Just like the war, we were victorious...

Next morning the lovely owners of the park kindly recorded the football for me and let me watch it in their living room. Good game but wrong result unfortunately. I did meet their pooch though. He's called Baxter. He's a Boxer and a good little boy.

After saying our farewells to Baxter we departed Ahipara and began our descent south down the east coast of north New Zealand. We eventually stopped at Mangonui in order to have a look at their little harbour. Its quite nice, quant little place which turned out to have a famous chippy.

Who were we to argue with fate, having been 'brought' to this place?

Into the chippy we went.

Two catch of the days (which you pick yourself before they cook it for you) which happened to be 'blue nose' (not the Evertonians Mick, the fish variety), one small chips and one diet coke were purchased.

It was amazing. Possibly the best fish we've had. The setting wasnt bad either as you sit eating your fish and chips out of the paper overlooking Mangonui bay...

After stealing some plastic cutlery (Aimee was the ringleader, im so ashamed...) we carried on before reaching Hi-Hi bay, which we originally headed towards as it is the sight of a famous sunken Green Peace flag ship.

Im sure you will have heard of it as it was apparently big news at the time. To give you a clue or two, the ever friendly French sneaked into another country (New Zealand) and then conspired to blow up a Green Peace ship in broad daylight that was there in protest of nuclear testing in the area. They even managed to kill one Green Peace activist in the process.

Does that ring any bells? Maybe the name of the ship will help:

The Rainbow Warrior.

We hadnt heard of it but read about it on the way so stopped to have a look at the sight, which now has a memorial on the top of a hill, on top of which you can look at at the actual site of the sunken wreck. You can even dive to explore the wreck itself if you wish.

After spending half an hour or so looking out at the fantastic views and pin pointing the sight of the wreck we headed back down and decided to spend the night at the camp site that was at the foot of the hill and directly on the beach front.

That was last night. This morning, we treated ourselves to a bit of a lie in (we deserved it) before heading off at about 11am. After passing through some more glorious bays and charming villages we hopped on to the car ferry to cross towards Russell at the far east of the north island. If you drive round you have to head south and inland toward Whangarei before turning 180 degrees and back up the coast towards Russell. $17 seemed good value with that in mind.

Anyway, we had a look round the village today, which is the home of the oldest church in New Zealand as well as an old printers that was brought from England in the 1800's to print bibles for the Maori's, it has recently been restored to working order.

That about it for now. We shall update you in a few days...

Nice chatting to you all. Ciao for now.

Me and Aimee x