Tag 122 - sandy

30.08.19

- Jonna

After breakfast, we set off relatively early because today we want to cover the last 100 km to the northern tip of New Zealand. But before we start, we still go shopping because our drinking water has run out again. Then off we go to the north. We stop at a roadside stall where you can buy avocados, lemons and oranges and buy a bag of three huge, still unripe avocados for $2 and a bag of oranges, also for $2. The avocados still need to ripen a little before you can eat them, but the oranges are incredibly delicious. Very sweet, no seeds and very little skin. I usually don't like oranges because of the white pith, but these are so delicious that I eat two of them right away. We drive through the increasingly sparsely populated landscape, quickly refuel at the last gas station, and then continue through untouched nature to Cape Reinga. Along paved paths, past many information boards, we walk to the northern tip. The view is spectacular.

Of course, we also visit the picturesque lighthouse and look out over the colliding seas. The Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean here. For the Maori, this is a very spiritual place - according to legend, the roots of a lonely tree lead to the underworld. In addition, the explorers Tasman and a French researcher (I forgot the name) sailed past each other during their expeditions in 1642. Neither of them knew about the other's expedition, and neither of them set foot on land here.

The atmosphere duly absorbed, a small picnic, and richer in information, we leave Cape Reinga behind and turn a few kilometers south to the "Giant Sand Dunes". They lie behind a curve, huge. It's not just a few dunes like in Skagen or Bordeaux, it's a whole landscape. There is nothing but sand for several kilometers. We hike through the landscape and feel like we're in a desert, sand dune after sand dune, no other people, and at high points, a view of the sea. At the highest point, we watch a few other visitors who have borrowed boards and surf down the dunes. Very cool, but the $15 fee and the thought of climbing the dunes multiple times kept us from joining in the fun.

After experiencing enough of the desert feeling, we get back in the car and leave the northernmost north. We go to a library again to use the WiFi. In the building, there is not only a cinema, a town hall, and the library, but also a small museum about the past life in Northland. Very exciting insights into the history of the people who were the first settlers here.

Because the WiFi only works moderately, we drive to the nearest McDonald's, treat ourselves to some fries and soft-serve ice cream, and use the free WiFi. Then we decide, due to a lack of alternatives and because we liked the place so much, to return to the dunes and spend our third night here.

- Jonna