New Zealand: Day 4

Gold rule

January 6, 2013

Another day of partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 70s. Today was about fun in the sun and sand.

We covered over 400km today, so we had to get off to an early start to cover all that ground and get back to the hotel in time for dinner. Our destination was Cape Rienga, the northernmost point of New Zealand, via one of the longest beaches in the world, 90 Mile Beach. But a slight kauri interlude. The Kiwis do love their kauri trees, even though they cut most of them down. Sounds like the Americans and the redwoods. We stopped at a small preserved kauri rain forest; the kauri trees were only about 500 years old. A few years back, New Zealand was preparing for a visit from Queen Elizabeth II. They wanted to show off one of the few remaining kauri rain forests, so they built a quite nice boardwalk for use by the queen. However, when the entourage arrived at the site, the queen rolled down the window of her vehicle, said "very nice" and proceeded on her tour. I was glad for the boardwalk. It was a short five-minute walk, but the rainforest was exquisitely lush and peacefully quiet. I would have enjoyed spending some time there immersed in the little bit of wilderness meditating, but we had to move on.

The bus -- and it was a full-sized bus -- drove right onto 90 Mile Beach, and sped north right at the water line. The thoroughfare was a designated roadway and had plenty of traffic. But about 40 miles up the beach we saw the dangerous side of the beach: one of the tour buses, exactly like ours, had gotten stuck in the sand and was tilted at an inauspicious angle. Several other buses already were on the scene trying to help pull the bus out, but those buses succeeded in only digging their own wheels into the sand, potentially getting stuck as well. The tide was visibly rising, and the decision was made to abandon the half-million dollar bus. It was in a hopeless situation anyway. Besides, our driver told us, when the tide receded the company could send out a truck to retrieve the bus and then the company could see if it was salvageable. The company had insurance to cover such mishaps anyway.

It was not on my bucket list, but I did something I've never done before: sand surfing! That's what they called it anyway; actually it was more like sand boogie boarding. The Te Paki Dunes rise at the end of 90 Mile Beach. After an agonizing climb up the dune that almost completely exhausted me, I got on the boogie board and slid quickly to the bottom. It was fun and worth doing again ... except I was not about to try to climb the dune again. Once was enough! It was several hours before I got all the grit out of my mouth, though.

We then made it to Cape Reinga, a remarkable site for several reasons. For one, it is quite beautiful. It is on high ground and offers great views of the surrounding area. Also, it is a culturally significant location. The Maori believe that all souls transit through Cape Reinga as their last stop in New Zealand on their way to the ancestral home of Hawaiki. Finally, it is a geographically interesting spot because that is the point where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide, and I do mean collide! You could see the waves crashing into each other from opposite directions and forming whirlpools. There is a lighthouse to visit, too, with steeply inclined terrain to return to the parking area. At least here, unlike on the dunes, the ground didn't keep slipping out from under my feet, and I could walk at as leisurely pace as I pleased.

Over the past couple of days as I've been riding in the bus, when I'm not enjoying the scenery, I've been reading Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook. As I read the guidebook and other travel guides on New Zealand, I have had a growing realization that even though I'm spending almost five weeks in the country, I'm still not going to be able to see and do all I want to do. This trip is going to be like my visit to the wineries on my first day here: I will get little samples of the country, enough that in combination will give me a little buzz, but will require buying a whole bottle to get full enjoyment. Some day I will have to come back to this country and drink fully.

Gold rule

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Last revised: August 5, 2015.

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