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Happiness Is The Road
The backpackers had been surprisingly quiet and we'd had a peaceful night. On our way out of Ahipara we went to have a look at Ninety Mile Beach. Ahipara marks the start of this famous beach that stretches from here almost to Cape Reinga. The name is a misnomer as it is actually only 55 miles long! In a four wheel drive it is possible to drive the beach but it can be treacherous at times. The beach here was vast and wide with big surf rolling in to the shore on the wind. There were lots of tyre tracks on the sand and it reminded me of Southport beach. The town of Ahipara had a bit of a weird vibe and there were quite a few dodgy and scary looking people about. We saw a very strange looking guy driving a golf buggy down the road and onto the beach. He was muttering to himself, grinning dementedly and was covered in hair. For one horrific moment we thought that were on the planet of the apes in a parallel dimension. New Zealand in places can be very hillbilly and strange and with the retro feel in places we often feel as we have crossed some sort of spooky time-space continuum. We escaped Ahipara forthwith and headed back to Kaitaia where we refuelled and did some food shopping in the big yellow bargain building that is Pak N Save. From here we headed south with the intention of staying the night in Rawene on the Hokianga Harbour. The scenery was the usual rolling hills and greenery with some tropical trees thrown in for good measure. The weather had started off fine but by the time we neared Rawene black clouds had rolled in and it started raining. We checked in at the campsite which was on a hill overlooking the harbour. With the rain and mist it felt like we were in the English Lake District. We were the only people on the camp site to begin with and it was bliss. We sat in the camper with the back doors open and took in the majestic view of the Hokianga Harbour. We have become very intolerant of other people as so many are noisy and inconsiderate. It was no different today as other people arrived later on and destroyed our peace and serenity. What had started as bliss ended up like a horrible cross between European Vacation and The Clampetts with the camp area now resembling something like a sink estate! We were however treated later on to the best sunset we have seen since being in Karumba in Queensland. The sun put on an awesomely beautiful show turning the sky the most gorgeous and vibrant shades of orange. Our adventures in this beautiful but other worldly dimension continue.
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