Cape Reinga

First stop we told of the Kauri tree (and it's plight and how it's now a protected tree in New Zealand. As you can see in the photo these trees grow to a colossal size. The Possum is considered a pest over here (It's a protected species in Australia) and they eat around 21,000 tonnes of vegetation each year.

We then went to the '90 mile beach' today , this beach is actually only 55 miles and is considered a public highway although we were told we wouldn't be insured if we wandered onto it with our rental, but our bus is no ordinary bus it's a Scania truck chassis with a bus shell so it's well able for the beach the driver showed us some of the 'skeleton' cars that weren't so lucky in getting off the beach before the tide came in, A solo seal decided to come over to the bus and say hello. I decided to do some sandboarding (Tina wasn't as brave) It's basically going head first down a sand dune on a plastic board, fun stuff indeed except I landed in the stream at the end of the dune and got soaked. It's lambing season and I thought one of the lambs chasing the bus were going to end up under the wheel!

Next stop and final stop is Cape Reinga It's about 500kms from Paihia, It;s a sacred place for the Māori people and they ask you do not eat or drink here.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.

Off home and some world famous 'Fesh and Cheps' as the Kiwis prounounce it on the way back.