Tamaterau-Mt. Manaia-Paihia-Cape Reinga-Spirits Bay

06.03.2020

I woke up early in the morning and looked out of the window. It hadn't rained and there was even a bit of blue sky. So I decided to go up Mount Manaia, which is only 15 minutes away. The hike took me about 1 hour and it was a really beautiful trail. There was also a great lookout point, although there were some clouds, it was still beautiful. After that, I continued driving to Paihia, a very beautiful village located in a bay with many small islands around. There were also some amazing graffiti artworks. In New Zealand, there are many graffiti artworks and they are not just randomly sprayed, they are well done. I had planned to stay there overnight, as the next day I wanted to go up to Cape Reinga, but the weather forecast for the following day was not good. So, I changed my plan and decided to go to Cape Reinga today, even though it would be a 2.5-hour drive. Luckily, when I arrived, the weather was perfect. I went to the camping site first to make a reservation. It is the most beautiful camping site I have been to so far. It has a wonderful beach and everything is clean and spacious. Then, I drove another 10 minutes to Cape Reinga to watch the sunset. It was amazing, almost no people, just the endless ocean in front of the lighthouse. And you can also see the meeting point of the two oceans (Tasman Sea/Pacific Ocean), which is quite impressive. The sunset wasn't as beautiful as expected because of the clouds coming from Australia. After that, I went back to the camping site and had dinner. My favorite dinner, spaghetti with red beans. I have to limit myself without a fridge.