Auckland to Paihia to Cape Reinga & Back

The first leg of our tour is North of Auckland in the Bay of Islands up to Cape Reinga. On the way up to our hostel in Paihia we stopped and checked out a bird sanctuary and met Sparky the amputee Kiwi bird. He is pretty hopeless hopping around on one leg but was very cute and acted like a domestic cat.

Jeff enjoying the luxurious accomodations at Base Pipi Patch Hostel. We stayed in an 8 bed dorm but only had 4 of us our entire stay. The shower was great and the internet was fast, we paid $8 for 24 hours of use.
The second day of our trip we did the Cape Reinga via 90 Mile Beach tour from Explore NZ. The morning started off slow with a GumdiggerPark tour looking at Kauri trees – a young tree is less than a 1000 years old.

Our next stop was Cape Reinga the northern most point of New Zealand where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet. The views were stunning and while we were there the weather started to clear up just in time to do some sand boarding down some very steep dunes. The hike up the sand dunes was an intense one, but the thrill of racing down made it worth it. Our 4 wheel drive bus had no problem driving up a stream bed to 90 Mile Beach and taking the short cut home racing down the beach for around 70 km.

You can see the waves where the Tasman & Pacific collide.

If you look close you can see his racing stripes adding to his speed.

After a couple of stops to pick up snacks in the surf we headed to Mangonui for the “Worlds Best Fish& Chips”. The fish and chips were so good that we actually ordered a second round.

Our last day in the Bay of Islands we took the ferry across to a place called Russell. It is one of the oldest ports in New Zealand that has become a sleepy harbour town. We walked up a viewing point overlooking the harbour.

The weather has been great and we are actually enjoying the hostel lifestyle. We have a one night stop in Auckland before we continue south.