A Big Day Out (aka sand gets everywhere).

First leg: Paihia - Cape Reinga - Kaitaia

We farewelled our lovely accommodation in Paihia, turning up our noses at the clearly over-priced  petrol at the local service station (north of $2 a litre). After a failed attempt at some kind of self-serve, pre-pay station in an industrial area (they wanted a $200 "deposit" and I managed to get a bee on me), we eventually called into the "quaint" village of Kaeo. It positively reeked of the frontiersmen and lack of dental hygiene. It turned out that Kaeo's petrol prices made Paihia's look positively pedestrian. I'd like to think we assisted the earthy proprietor with a down-payment on some extensive dental work.

The solitary way north wound its way through some really remote landscapes of rolling flaxen hills and pine forests (it appears there's an identification with the Northland, rather than NZ generally).

Around 3 hours after our departure from the Bay of Islands, we made a left for the Te Paki Sand Dunes - with the intent of careening down them at a rate of knots. It was fairly windy, which would clearly add to the sand-in-the-teeth experience.

We were greeted by some really helpful locals, and were ushered to a truck where they were renting out boogie boards. The chatty guy in charge was speaking to another tourist who was keen to take his vehicle up onto the sand dunes. The conversation essentially went: "Well, it's up to you bru - but you see that large pile of car undercarriages over there? They all thought they could drive onto the sand dunes too!"

We grabbed our boards, and made our way up some devastatingly steep sand dunes (not great for clambering up at the best of times) - all the while getting a free dermabrasion treatment. 

As high as the dunes looked from the bottom - they seemed to exaggerate themselves from the top. I mounted a GoPro on my generous noggin and volunteered to make the first descent. The speed was reminiscent of a plane just prior to take-off, braking achieved with elbows or toes.

Almost inconceivably, we made our way back up for another run (I contemplated the probable lack of emergency coronary services in the Northland as I crested the summit for the second time). 

This is where I started re-thinking my lack of fitness regime.

Josh discovered that rolling over to one side and using your face also appeared to bring you to a halt fairly suddenly.

On wobbly legs, we made our way back to the board hire guy, marvelling at all of the places sand could lodge. 

Dusting ourselves off as best we could, we clambered into our car - driving past another vehicle with the driver underneath the car, attempting to un-bend something significantly damaged in the under-carriage region. Bru should have listened.

It was a comparatively (ie not 2-3 hours - more like 20 minutes) short trip Cape Reinga, the confluence of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean (actually a visible thing as it turns out). 

The Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean
getting to know each other.

Despite Hamish's concerns, no one plunged from a cliff-face into the awaiting ocean on the way out to the lighthouse. 

The north-western most tip of NZ is known locally as Te Rerenga Wairua, the leaping-off place of spirits from this world to the next. There was an undeniable power to the place it must be said.

Second leg: Kaitaia to Auckland

While it had been a great morning, we were very much aware that there was still 5 hours of driving to Auckland. We called into the township of Kaitaia, where the coffee served at the local Maccas was almost as bitter as the young lady serving it. From here, we made our way down State Highway 1 pretty much the entire way. 

The single-lane bridge crossings and torturous mountain bends (I may have honked at someone not taking advantage of a rare passing lane) belied the highway status to be honest. Somehow, we made it to Whangarei (pronounced fangarei, a large local city) - where we re-fuelled / acquired a second mortgage, and Josh managed to splash Hamish's front with water in the bathrooms (he was clearly thrilled). 

We made the final leg of our journey to Auckland through a combination of caffeine, sour worms and Pascall's Pineapple Lumps. All up, it was about 8.5 hours of some fairly windy roads punctuated by the occasional straight bits. Our place in Auckland for the next few nights is a multi-storied affair and within walking distance to Britomart (large shopping district). 

Lily is keen.