The meeting of the waters.

I'm not usually big on bus tours (I like to travel on my own schedule - not someone else's!), but this is one place where you should ditch the rented Toyota.

The Aupouri peninsula is the narrow neck of land in the far north of New Zealand. The most famous attractions are Ninety Mile Beach, on the west coast, and Cape Reinga, at the end. The main access is along State Highway 1 (mostly paved - the last few kilometres are currently being upgraded). Ninety Mile Beach is also a designated highway, but not recommended for private cars. I certainly wasn't going to risk my six-month-old Honda while up there in July '07.

The bus tours go up the beach and back along the highway (or vice versa, depending on tides), stopping at the Cape Reinga lighthouse, and various other small bays etc. You'll also get to sand-board among the huge dunes at Te Paki stream. These dunes, btw, stretched right along the peninsula before the planting of the Aupouri forest - one of the largest man-made forests in the world.

Cape Reinga, despite being the end of the road, is not the northernmost point of New Zealand. That honour belongs to the Surville Cliffs near North Cape, a few miles to the east. However, Cape Reinga is known as the place of the "meeting of the waters" of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean, and the sea may froth off-shore and show distinct shades of blue.

The big tour companies leave from Paihia. But that's a long day, about 12 hours. Far better if you can get to Kaitaia yourself, from where a couple of local companies -- Harrison's Cape Runner and Sand Safaris -- operate. Harrison's charged $45 for the cape tour, not bad for a full-day excursion with light picnic lunch included. Sand Safaris is a few dollars more, and also include admission to "Gumdigger's Park".

There's also some companies offering 4WD tours, smaller or personalized groups etc - probably much more expensive. Use google to find them on the web.

If you decide to ignore advice, and your rental contract, and drive on the beach yourself, still keep Harrison's number handy. They're also the local tow-truck operator -- $450, I recall them saying, if they can reach you before high tide. They have two or three customers a week.

Kaitaia, by the way, is a town of a few thousand, a service centre for the Far North region. Typical small town, not as bad as some guidebooks make out, but few attractions in town for visitors. Two nights sandwiched around your Cape Reinga visit is enough.

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