Day # 50-53

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It’s been a quiet day in Pukenui today. Cool Squally showers hindered us from venturing too far. We managed a walk quick walk around the picturesque Houhora Harbour in the morning. There was plenty of activity with barges and commercial fishing boats heading in and out. If it wasn’t so windy we would have plonked ourselves on the hillside and spent more time watching all the comings and goings. The rain cleared late this afternoon so we walked inland from the Camping Ground to a place called Arethusia Reserve, a loop track around wetlands. This reserve was donated to the Forest & Bird Society. Some argue that this reserve has not been too successful (ponds have turned to swamp, wilding pines growing amongst the nice native plantings). But still it gave us something to do whilst dodging showers.



Day 52

We made it ……….Cape Reinga. (where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean). It’s taken us 52 days to get here and it has been well worth the wait. The views from here are so spectacular I can’t explain so suggest you just look at the photos. There are plenty of tourists around even though it is the off season. It can make it quite hard to get a photo of the lighthouse without others posing in your photoJ.



A few minutes down the road is Tapotupotu DOC camp. A beautiful white sandy beach and our home for the next couple of days. A quick bite to eat then we headed off to tackle the Tapotupotu – Sandfly Bay track. This track will give your legs a work out, big climbs (lots of huffing and puffing), huge cliffs, scary drop offs (if your Lance). However, the most stunning views. High on the ridge between Tapotupotu and Sandfly Bay you can see the Cape Reinga Lighthouse in the far distance. Unfortunately we were a little too late in the day for lighting and a decent photo. Spotted a fisherman on a rock ledge below one of the cliffs and it looked like he was doing ok. I managed to zoom in on the camera and he had a couple of decent sized snapper. (Might have to give it a go tomorrow). We ended up walking further than we planned as I thought the photo might be better taken over there or here. A bit of a mistake as you know what they say if you go down you must come back up. I think we will sleep well tonight.



Day 53



It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day and I’m feeling good……….We have had some entertainment this morning. 3 groups trying to launch their boats. We won’t call them boaties because they had no idea. Sand sucked up impellors as they tried to drive off sand banks, bounced off rocks………….a disaster waiting to happen. If they had been an hour earlier with the tide it would not have been an issue. Bugger, I forgot the camera!



Our next adventure was to hike some of the Tapotupotu to Spirits Bay track today. It takes around 8 1/2 hours to walk one way. So we opted to do a shorter distance to one of the high pinnacles ‘Tirikawa’. At one stage you could see across the sand dunes to Cape Van Diemen, the Cape Reinga Lighthouse, Most of the Coastline from Cape Reinga all the way down to Spirits Bay. Stunning, Stunning, Stunning.



On return to camp we watched our non boaties return and bury their cars, trailers and boats in the sand! They also managed to rip 2 out of the 3 jockey wheels off their trailers. So my advice don’t buy the following all near new vehicles if cheap on Trade Me……………. Black Jeep, White Kia SUV, White Toyota Highlander, they may have spent some time in sea water and buried in the sand at Tapotupotu.



Had a quick fish out on the rocks but with the swell crashing aborted mission for a cold beer and a comfy seat in the Motorhome.

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