Next morning we were up and away (with a box of about 15 fresh unshucked oysters, complements of John and Rongo - what lovely hosts they have been) to stay a couple of nights at their recommendation at the Mangonui Motel in Mangonui. This is where they go when they have time to take a break and told us to ask for room 6 as it has the best views over the Mangonui Inlet. And the views are indeed wonderful even if the accommodation is a bit tired. Mangonui is a gorgeous wee place - very picturesque even though it is still very much a working fishing village - and an excellent base for a trip to Cape Reinga, the most northerly point in NZ. Richard, the owner of the motel, booked us on a trip run by a local company. But in the end they decided not to run a trip that day so our booking was transferred to Fullers whose bus, which started out from Paihia, picked us up at about 9.30am. It was great, especially for E, not to be having to drive for a change, but after only about 15 minutes the bus stopped at Taipa for morning tea/coffee! Well, we had to remember that the others had been on the bus for over two hours so just relaxed in the cafe by the shore and had a coffee. It was long drive up to Cape Reinga with not a great deal of interest along the way, but the landscape around the Cape itself was very attractive with rolling hills and sweeping sandy beaches. After taking in the sea breezes during the walk to and from the Cape Lighthouse we headed down to the huge sand dunes at the north end of 90 Mile Beach. It was great fun tobogganing down the steep dunes on our boogie boards - probably the highlight of the day and another 'tick off' of things to do in NZ. After that it took about an hour and a half to drive down 90 Mile Beach, including a stop for the driver and a few helpers to do a spot of pipi (clam) digging and coming across a turtle making its way across the beach to the sea, before heading back to Mangonui. A great day out was topped off with John and Rongo's oysters followed by fish and chips from the 'world famous' (yes they have lots of world famouses in NZ - how come we've never heard of them?) Mangonui Fish Shop - and delicious they were too!That night the weather again changed, this time lashing rain was accompanied by howling winds which battered against our windows high on the hilltop. It was more of the same the next morning so once again we changed our plans. Instead of driving down the west coast to Dargaville we cut inland and headed straight for Whangerai.E & M xx