Back from a fantastic two day car trip to the Far North. We crossed the island East to West from Whangarei to Dargaville and headed North. The beaches on the west coast are stunning. Miles and miles of sand and dunes. It reminded us of the North Sea coast line on a bigger scale. Very big tides which at low tides leave big expand of sand on which one is allowed to drive with the car. We drove for about 15 miles on 90 Miles Beach. The same strech where apparently Jeremy Clarkson and his team are filming a new episode for Top Gear. They are racing some sport cars. The beach was due to be closed for the event but the local Maouris objected and there is a big argument going on. Lucky for us we guess because it allowed us to drive on the beach which we couldn't have done had it been closed!

 

We spent the night in a motel in Kaipara at the start of the 90 Mile Beach going to Cape Reinga.  Perfectly clean place, very big motel which felt like we were back in the 70's. There was a restaurant where we had a reasonnably good meal. The service was not top quality but they were nice.

 

We went to the furthest North point of the North Island, Cape Reinga where there is a lighthouse. Beautiful sceneries. We took a walk around the cape and the lighthouse. We were so lucky with the weather, sunny and warm.

 

We then drove back to start of 90 Miles Beach where Mike had the time of his life on a blokart as they call it here. We call it sand sailing or char-a-voile in French. It was very windy by then so it was exhilarating. He only capsized once over the hour long exercise which was a record!

 

We drove back to Marsden Cove and our boat on the West coast route, stopping at Whangaroa which is a beautiful harbour sheltered from all weather condition and with a fjord like entrance.

 

It looks like the winds are about to change from South East to North which is good news as we want to head down to Auckland.

 

All good here...