Cape Reinga - a great way to finish 3 months in New Zealand

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Well, we’ve had a great time exploring New Zealand over the past 3 months and we’ve done a serious amount of tramping along the way. So it seems fitting that we conclude our trip to this fine country with one more multi-day trek, this time at the very northern tip of the island.

The Cape Reinga Coastal Walkway is nearly 50 km long and begins at the northern end of Ninety Mile Beach, continues across secluded beaches, dunes and cliffs to the lighthouse and then finishes at Spirits Bay on the Pacific side. There are no huts along the way, which seems to put a lot of people off, but we loved it. Even during Easter school holidays, we only saw 2 other trampers (both going the opposite direction to us) and a couple of day hikers near Cape Reinga. It is definitely the most isolated we’ve felt on any track and it has some of the most incredible coastal scenery of anywhere in the country. It really was a great way to finish.

Now we are spending the last few days with friends in Auckland trying to figure out how to get our packs down to 20kg for our flight to Australia. It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate when you’ve got a car to throw everything into!

Time for a few numbers to put our New Zealand leg into context:

Total nights spent in New Zealand = 90
Nights in hotels/motels = 10
Nights in back-country huts = 1
Nights with friends = 11
Nights camping in a tent = 68

Kilometers driving (approx) = 9400
Kilometers walking/tramping/hiking (approx) = 335

Average spending per day = $185NZ or $150US (right on budget!)

Now we’re off to Australia!

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