There are two routes up the tip of the North Island; you can travel Highway 1 (the Far North Road) or you drive up 90 Mile beach. There are warnings posted in map books, on sign posts and in various towns not to attempt the beach in a rental vehicle or a vehicle without 4 wheel drive. I managed to convince Iain that we should leave that adventure for another day and a fiercer version of our little green van. So we travelled up to the Cape on the highway, finally seeing up close what we had only seen in the hazy distance for so long.
The land is predominantly sand dunes up both coastlines. I do not understand how so much plant life can thrive on what is no more than sand for soil, but it did. Water was scarce in the region and it got scarcer the further north we went. By the time we reached the Cape it was officially a desert.
The cape itself is beautiful. There is an old lighthouse perched out at the end of the world where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific ocean slam together like two massive titans. The water north of the lighthouse is a boiling mass of white foam and standing waves that hurl themselves meters into the air with total fury and raw power. Everything in the area is stunted and warped by the wind and exhibits a will to survive that surpasses belief. The coastline is rocky and jagged to one side with small sheltered inlets and stretches of golden sand dunes to the other side.
We stood admiring the view and the primal forces at work until the wind drove us back to our vehicle. I was glad I had seen the Cape on a clear and sunny day, I could only imagine the fury of the ocean during storm season.
After the Cape we headed to a DOC campsite a few kilometers back down the road. The site was gorgeous, it was nestled at the base of a low hill next to a lazy river that meandered through horse pasture to the ocean. We were close enough to hear the waves pounding on the beach but far enough away to be sheltered from the worst of the wind by the waves. The camp ground was lush and green with new facilities and lots of space. We walked to the beach and poked along the shore, shell hunting in the rocks and finding all sorts of treasures. We even stumbled upon a dead puffer fish, which seemed to be out of its element.
The following day we took a brief side trip to the giant sand dunes where people could rent body boards and surf down the sides of the colossal dunes. Iain and I wandered around looking at the bedding in the exposed sandstones and pondering the age of the clam shells that were being exposed by erosion. We voted against sand surfing and ran down the sides the of the dunes instead, jumped back in our chariot and headed south.
We made a second adventurous detour to check out the halfway point of 90 Mile beach. It was supposedly a surf spot, although only the best surfers could handle the incredible wave action that was happening at the beach. To get to the beach we drove through forestry trails for half an hour, over gut wrenching washboard and through a maze of side roads and confusing signs. We finally found the right road and picked our way to the beach. Right at that point on the beach there was a tiny island that was accessible at low tide across the stretch of sand. The waves broke around it and tore at the rocks with enormous swells and foaming crests like teeth. There was a colony of oyster catchers sitting quite calmly on the top of the little chunk of rock and millions of shells to poke through on the beach side of the island. The only other sign of people was a 4x4 jeep that came up the beach at us while we were exploring the island. We met up with them when we went back to the van and they told Iain that the trip up 90 Mile beach was hair-raising even in their solid vehicle.
We left 90 mile and went to the other coast for our second night. We spent the night at the Rarawa DOC site and found a beach of pristine powdered sugar sand littered with hundreds of awesome shells. We spent the evening beachcombing until sunset drove us back to our campsite for food. We made sure to make one more pass along the beach in the morning before we left the campground.
Finally it was time to head back to Ahipara for our last night in the Northlands before heading to Auckland. We spent our last night at Hugh's place and he gave us the keys to his apartment in Auckland. We would be spending just shy of 3 weeks in the city to sell the van and catch up on computer work. It was a sad day when we left Ahipara because we knew our adventures were coming to an end, but it had been a wonderful trip and we had enjoyed it all so far.
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