Day 18 • Paihia (Bay of Islands) - Cape Reinga

We have reached the northernmost point of New Zealand. Our journey is slowly coming to an end. At first, we thought we had seen everything, but today had so much to offer that even on day 18, it wasn't boring. A long drive took us to Cape Reinga, the designated northernmost point of New Zealand for tourists. Here, where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet, stands one of 23 active lighthouses in solitude. For the Maori, this is a sacred place. The word 'Reinga' means something like crossing. The deceased embark on their final journey to the homeland of their ancestors (Hawaiiki) here. The surroundings are incredibly beautiful. From there, you can already see the huge 'Te Paki Dunes'. After this beautiful first stop, we went to 'Spirits Bay'. Our rental car had to endure a lot today, as the road there was once again just a gravel road. When we arrived, we didn't know if we were in the right place at first. There was a fairly quiet campground, a small lake, and great dunes. But just a few steps further, behind the dunes, this beautiful beach lay before us. The sand is something special. It is cool, soft, and colorful. Colorful from countless shells that have been broken into a thousand pieces and smoothed by the water. Just beautiful...

I had been looking forward to surfing in the 'Te Paki Dunes' with a sandboard for days. You can rent them on the way there. A lady gave us the tip to drive a few hundred meters further to the red house and ask for Ann-Marie. She said the boards were cheaper to rent there than directly at the dunes. We drove down the road to the red house and were greeted by ducks and chickens. We got out of the car and entered the yard. After calling multiple times, I heard a not very friendly dog barking, and then it was almost in front of us. I quickly got back into the car. I'm usually afraid of dogs anyway and had a feeling about this. Suddenly, a small, very shy girl appeared, and Rudi asked about the boards. She wanted something as collateral with identification and 10 NZD. He casually gave his health insurance card and an extra 5 NZD. We weren't completely sure if we would get the card back. But so far, we haven't had any bad experiences here, and I somehow felt sorry for the girl. Off to the dunes we went. In the middle of the green landscape, you suddenly find yourself in front of the over 100-meter-high dunes. The small Te Paki River flows right by the dunes. It's somehow an unreal landscape that is simply beautiful again. The hike up the dunes is definitely not child's play. :-) You could already see people with boards sliding down the dunes from a distance. I must admit, I didn't dare the highest dune. First, I practiced on a pretty small one and then later on one that was already very high for me. It was a lot of fun, and I had sand in every pore afterwards. We got the health insurance card back when we returned the board. :-) Our final stop was 'Ninty Mile Beach'. Actually, the name is not correct because it is only 55 miles (88 kilometers) long. Why it is still called that is not known. The beach is very wide and can be driven on with cars. Technically, we were not supposed to do that with our rental car, but there wasn't much going on, so... ;-). Tomorrow, we will go to Auckland for two days to end the trip.