Cape Reinga Coastal Walk

This was a three day two night hike at the top of the north island. The five of us (Joe, Ayelet, Maura, Kevin, and I) packed up Thursday evening to put some of the driving behind us. We woke early on Friday and made it to Te Paki a little low on fuel. There had been signs for a gas station there, but we ran into trouble when we found the gas station was out of gas. The owner told us they would have gas for us when we were done with the hike on Sunday, so I was relieved. The trail wasn't a loop, so we arranged for transportation to and from the trail. Our driver had just moved to New Zealand from South Africa, and he told us a few stories during the ride. The South African accent is fascinating. There is a definite British influence with some thick German tendencies.

The walk really surprised me. I didn't think it would have so much variety in the scenery.
The beginning of the track followed the coast along tall grass and sand.Looking back from where we came. We followed the high tide track along cliffs after being unsure how far we could go along the beach.


More sand. I think everyone was relieved to get off the beach from time to time and get better footing.The group descending a particuarly steep section of the trail. Many rounds of 'The Name Game' were played during this section.Beginning of Saturday's hiking. The grassy area is where we camped the night before, and the sleeping wasn't great. We rented a 4 person tent from an outdoors club at school, but had 5 people.
Saturday afternoon arriving at the Cape Reinga lighthouse.
Looking out from the lighthouse I could see the seas colliding. The Tasman Sea and The Pacific Ocean meet here, and the white in the water are the colliding points. The whole cape area has spiritual significance to the Maori. The seas meeting represents the creation of life, and the area around the cape is where souls are said to travel to after death.

This is a great example of the sudden changes of landscape. A lush beach scenery gives way to sand and red rock. The array of colors was amazing.



Near our camping spot for the second night as we prepare dinner. There was some debate as to weather we had found the camp grounds or not, as there was only a small, bumpy clearing on a hill. The sleeping was even worse. I think Maura was the only one unbothered by the cramped quarters. No complaints about the view however.The third day was largely on the beach. Towards the end, we headed inland by some large sand dunes. The size of the dunes really exceeded what I had imagined New Zealand sand dunes to be. As seems to happen toward the end of every hike, everyone was ready to finish at this point. Several had blisters and other nagging pains. We were picked up while walking through a cow pasture, and one startled me when it jogged up from behind.

The gas situation took another turn. The power was out there and in many surrounding towns. We were able to buy a 10 liter jug of gas, but we still were cutting it close by the time we found the next open station. Just as with the Taranaki hike, the weather had cooperated fully and provided another great weekend.

Bay of Islands

The next adventure was north of Auckland to the Bay of Islands area. Jane, one of the program managers, brought all 16 students in my program to the bay to stay the weekend at her parent's(Kieth and Aylsa) house. The house is right on the water and fairly secluded.
I wondered where they were going to put 16 college students for two nights, but they had it covered. Their backyard was dotted with campers that reminded me slightly of the one down by the Kaskaskia river back home. These were of course in better repair, but the beds inside were about a foot too short for me, so I had to use some inventive sleeping techniques. The chickens that roamed the yard also reminded me a bit of home, and it was fun seeing how the east coast city dwellers handled the birds. For example, Ben, who looks scared of the little hen.The first evening and next day could be spent as we liked. We layed around on the beach, swam in the cold, clear water, and went cayaking around the bay while others went on a fishing trip. This was the first time everyone had been together since school started, and it was nice sharing stories. Saturday evening we held a boche ball tourny, and I was part of the winning duo. Our prizes were stuffed animals, but I'm sure I can find someone who will want it.
Sunday was more structured, but not in a bad way. We caught an early cruise around the bays. During the trip we saw dolphins and awesome scenery. There is a large hole in one of the rocks in the bay and the boats drive through it sometimes. Our driver wouldn't do it though, and said the water was too rough. I think we needed a better captain.

Before returning to Auckland, we stopped the site of a historic treaty signing between the native Maori and the Pahkia (Europeans). It was an interesting walk through the grounds, but it seemed like the treaty itself had many unkept promises similar to the U.S and the Native American tribes.
The weekend was great, and the only thing we had to pay for was lunch on Sunday! That was very helpful at the rate I had been going through money.

Now I still need to post about Cape Reinga, all of semester break, and Raglan, so expect more soon.