Bay of Fun (part 2)

"For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), It's always our self we find in the sea."

e.e. Cummings 

 Continuing on.... 

Day 3 (Monday)

Brittany and I woke to a 6 am wake up call – we had to be outside of our hostel by 7:10 to catch the bus. We signed up for a combo pack today we would head up north and then the following day we would spend it with Allison on the water.

We hopped on the bus (we booked the one that only was open for people in their 20’s) and headed up north. Barry our driver was so great, he gave us so much useful information and was so knowledgeable about everything NZ. We drove for about 40 minutes and stopped for a breakfast/tea/coffee/takeway break. Brittany and I got some breakfast and some caffeine. We then traveled to 90 Mile Beach. 

The name Ninety Mile Beach is a misnomer because it is actually 55 miles (88 km) long. Several theories have been advanced for the name, the most common stemming from the days when missionaries travelled on horse back when on average a horse could travel 30 miles (50 km) in a day before needing to be rested. The beach took three days to travel therefore earning its name, but the missionaries did not take into account the slower pace of the horses walking in the sand, thus thinking they had travelled 90 miles (140 km) when in fact they had only travelled 55 (those dummies!!)

Bus driver Barry telling us whats up - he always had two hands off the wheel while still in motion... 

The bus... 

me getting soaked! 

The beach is really dangerous – the tide is crazy and only coach buses are allowed to drive along the beach. It is so cool! The bus is designed for driving through water (not lots but some) and during our drive we would drive through some water down the beach. It took about an hour to drive the whole length of the beach – we stopped once and of course Brittany and I had to go put our feet in the Tasman Sea! I got soaked because I huge wave came up unexpectedly and got me all wet!  It was a blast and we had such a great time on the beach.

Next stop- sand boarding!!!! The beach, and specifically its northern dunes, is a famous tourist destination. The dunes, looking very much like a desert landscape – it seemed like I was in the desert even with the Tasman Sea beside me! We all decided, as a bus, to go and board down the monster hill. Oh.My.Gosh this hill was HUGEEE! It was so steep and took around 15 minutes to walk up (for everyone – not just me). After our safety demonstration we lugged our board up off we went down the hill! It was soo fast and exhilarating but really dirty – I wasn’t expecting to have sand all over me all day long – but it was SUPER fun!

lesson

here I come

there goes Brittany!!

sooooo tall!!!

Next (this is only at 11:30 now – so much stuff jammed packed in one day ay?)

We had lunch at a bay (sorry but I don’t remember the name) it was so beautiful and I could have just spent the whole day there!! It was a great place to eat lunch and walk around in the water.

Then we made our way to Cape Reinga – this is a very special place and it was so wonderful to visit. We met up with the Morgans here too – they also took a tour from where they were staying up north.

This place is special geographically and spiritually. Geographically this is the most northern accessible part in New Zealand – and is where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet – super cool. By the lighthouse there is a sign pointing in different directions and even at the most northern part we are closer to the South Pole than the US (kinda made me homesick a bit). It was a beautiful site to see the ocean and the sea meeting – really quite interesting.

The name of the cape comes from the Māori word 'Reinga', meaning the 'Underworld'. Another Māori name is 'Te Rerenga Wairua', meaning the leaping-off place of spirits. Both refer to the Māori belief that the cape is the point where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld.

According to mythology (really interesting), the spirits of the dead travel to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland and climb the roots of the 800 year old tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland using the Te Ara Wairua, the 'Spirits' pathway'. At Cape Reinga they depart the mainland.

The meeting point of the Sea and Ocean are to the left. 

This is the most sacred place in New Zealand.  The Maori people believe that Cape Reinga is where the spirits of loved ones journey to depart into the afterlife.  Our guide gave us such a moving explanation that both Brittany and I teared up thinking about our recently departed loved ones.  As we entered into Cape Reinga our guide gave a prayer in Maori to invite our loved ones with us on our journey.  It was beautiful and made Brittany and I think of our grandmas. 

 As we hiked to the top hill and stood over the cliff looking into the Tasman Sea and the gorgeous landscape 150 meters below, Brittany and I were silent.  I could feel the presence of my grandma with me,  I prayed to my God and thanked him for my beautiful grandmother. It was really a powerful moment -I know she was with me in the most beautiful place on earth, seeing the sights that literally took my breath away. I will never forget this place because of its spiritual history and what this place means to New Zealanders.

closer to the South Pole than to home 

thats the meeting point above! 

Once we finished walking around and taking with our past ancestors – we stopped in the forest and did the Maninangina Kauri Walk – it was about 15 minute walk and we saw the huge Kauri trees – they are one of the worlds most mightiest trees. They are HUGEEE and super tall! They start maturing at 800 years told and grow up to 2,000 years old! We were told that if we hug them we would “beam with goodness” so of course I did J I love me some tree-hugging!

We then stopped into a beautiful bay – had some fish and chips (so yummy) and some beer (I finally could drink alcohol again) and then headed back to Piha!

We met up with Allison who did some exploring of her own and had some dinner (kebabs) and drank some wine and watched the sunset – super long day but very much worth it.

Day 4 (Tuesday)

Again another early morning with a 7 am wake up – we were going on a boat! Allison, Brittany and I went on the water part of the tour! We boarded a big boat and set off to find some dolphins, look at the islands, and go through the hole in the rock!

photo cred- Brittany 

Within an hour we found dolphins – AMAZING! Brittany will post much better pictures (I was on the deck above and she was below). It was so cool seeing dolphins in their natural habitat.

Then off to the rock! Which wasn’t that exciting but kind of cool – I took a video - hopefully I can upload it later! The 60-foot hole is at sea level and was created over centuries by wind and waves making it a popular tourist site and kind of beautiful! But honestly it was just a hole...in a rock - i wanted to go back and see the dolphins! 

Then we had a tea break (duh) in a bay – we ate some cake and walked along the beach – found some beautiful shells.

Brittany and Allison decided to jump off the pier - I wanted to keep dry for the ride back

Then we got back, packed our stuff and headed to the bus at 4:30 to take us back to Auckland! We arrived safe and sound around 8:30! It was a wonderful trip with some wonderful companions – next weekend I have something fun in the works – something to do with hot air balloons and me driving a car :) 

miss you all so much at home!