Our alarm was set for 0610, as we had to drive back down to Kaitaia to meet up with the bus trip we had booked. We drove in our pyjamas and had a wash when we arrived at the information centre loos in Kaitaia. Perfect timing as the bus pulled in at 0900 and we headed out for the day. We decided to book a tour as on the west coast of the peninsula there is 90 Mile Beach which you can drive on, except for in hire vehicles as you are uninsured and likely to be swept away to sea. Because of the tides, the trip ran in reverse, so we headed back up the no1, much to our amusement as this was our 3rd time up it in less than 24 hours. Every now and then our driver stopped to point out some flora or fauna to us, but apart from that it was what we had already done. At this point I joked "Wouldn't it be funny if we ended up on our deserted overnight beach for lunch" - next thing - you guessed it - off we went down to 'our' beach for our lunch stop. Not quite as nice as when we camped there as there were about 4 bus loads lunching there, but very amusing. Next stop Cape Reigna - been there, done that, so we sat on the grass and enjoyed the view, while the others walked down to the lighthouse. From here the trip got better as we were taken on routes undriveable in our van. We headed out along the Te Paki Stream, where we stopped to do some sandboarding. The dunes can reach 400 feet high - needless to say we didn't go up that far, but it was a bit of a trek in sand with our little plastic sleds. From the top the dune it looked really steep, but I think we were expecting it to be as fast as snow, which it wasn't - great fun though. A few people even ended up in the stream. The stream led out onto the 90 Mile Beach, which is a vast expanse in front of the dunes. The tide was out and we stopped for a wander - Nic and I went in for a dip, which was really choppy, with strong currents and certainly woke me up. The beach is actually an official highway with road regulations on it - weird. If they were to metricate it to 90 km Beach, it would be more accurate. It was named by farmers who used to drive their cattle along it and it took 3 days and they estimated that they travelled 30 miles a day!! Once off the beach and back in town, we got in our van and headed out along the no10 highway to The Bay of Islands, where we found a campsite with hot showers!! Tuna nicoise salad and corn on the cob for dinner and to bed. S xx