Friday 5 February 2010

Cape Reinga via 90 Mile Beach on the Dune Rider

We set our alarm for 6am but it didn't make any difference, Heather knocked on our door at 6:15 so it was a bit rushed.  A quick breakfast and Roy took us down to the pick up point in Paihia.  The Dune Rider Bus is cool - see pics.








After picking up more people we made our way north.  We stopped for tea and cake but I must stress that it was not done especially for us!  It wasn't long before we were driving along 90 Mile Beach - it was amazing (It's only 63 miles but that's another story).  Breakers were crashing onto the beach as we sped along the wet sand.









  At the top of the beach we came off and drove to some huge sand dunes.  We stopped and the driver was handing out boogie boards for surfing down the dunes.  I decided to go and Sandra would take the photos.  Three quarters of the way up the dune I thought I was going to die! - I was so knackered.  I did eventually make it to the top and I'm glad I did.  The ride down was exhilarating but I wasn't going up again without a chair lift.









 Then we drove to Taputaputa for a picnic lunch - just see the picture to see how fabulous it was.






  Then it was time to move on to Cape Reinga and the lighthouse on the most northerly tip of North Island.  Once again, the views were absolutely stunning - every time we turned a corner there was another fantastic view.












After leaving there it was on to Gumdiggers Park - site of an ancient Kauri forest.  Before we left there the driver took our orders for fish & chips and phoned the order in.  We duly arrived at the 'world famous' Mangonui Fish Shop and picked our order - it was delicious.  We ate them on board as we made our way back to Paihia.  We arrived back nearly 12 hours after we had started out, tired but fulfilled after a really great day out.

2 comments:

  1. Wow what fantastic views. The kids will be very proud of their grandad surfing down the sand dunes! See you soon x

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