New Zealand is very large, compared to the islands we have been visiting this past year. There are many things to see and do, but they are mostly very far apart. We have been told not to miss sand boarding at the Te Paki Sand Dunes. Sounds like fun, we all love boogie boarding so surely we will all enjoy sand boarding. We made a plan to go with a boat we met in the yard, Zeemous, or Sea Mouse, in English. They are from the Netherlands, and I won't even try to list their names because I can still barely pronounce them let alone spell them. They are really cool and have a 13 year old daughter a 4 year old son and a dog.

We met up in Keri-Keri and decided to load all of their camping gear into our car and just jump in their van for the 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive up to the tip of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. The ride was pleasant enough, watching the cows and sheep go by. With a couple of stops we were there in about 3 hours. We started with a drive down 90 mile beach. This is a very long, I guess 90 miles, beach. It is a good thing the van had 4 wheel drive. You actually drive straight onto the sand and there are outlets every few kilometers. Pretty cool, the waves are coming at you and you need to drive high enough up the beach to stay out of the water but low enough that you are not in the soft sand. Sometimes you just need to power through a bit of water. We got out to explore the beach a little. We found some cool shells and a shark carcass. We also spent some time jumping down the small dunes. Then back in the van and out to find the big dunes.

We found he sign for the Te Paki dunes and pulled in, this is a fairly popular attraction. There are big bus tours here and we were surprised at just how many people were on the bus tours, considering that the price ranges from $119 to $149 per person. Fortunately the busses use a different part of the dunes. We rented sand boards for $15 each. We were advised to keep our socks on as the sand is hot. Good advice! We hiked over to the sand dune. It stood about 100 feet tall. The big difference is that surfing sand dunes involves a hike up a mountain of soft sand in the blazing sun, where as boogie boarding is just a short paddle in perfect blue water. The hike up is a killer, 2 steps up and you slide back 1, the sand is just falling under your feet, and you need to carry the board up with you which is surprisingly heavy. When we got o the top we were all a bit surprised by how steep the slope was. After we got our breath back it took us a few minutes to get up the nerve to go down. But what a ride, all 5 seconds of it was a thrill. Then back up the slope, about a 15 minute hike. Another 5 second thrill ride. At least there is no line and you can go as many times as you like. Zack got in a couple of runs but the hike up was a deterrent and he opted out after that. David did about 6 runs and I did maybe 5. You get a bit dehydrated and things start to blur, but it's $15 and you want to get your money's worth. After lunch Zack had a great time stand-up surfing his board down a smaller dune.

Next stop the lighthouse at Cape Reinga. This is the tip of the North Island of NZ and is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. It is also where the Maori people believe that their spirit departs the earth. All very sacred and an interesting place to visit. It is a pleasant walk down to the lighthouse with signs that share information about the area. The sea is crashing below and there is a chance to see whales but we unfortunately did not.

Back in the van and a stop at the Kauri Kingdom. This is a workshop and showroom for carvings made out of a very special tree in NZ, the Kauri. Most of it is thousands of years old, and NZ has many amazing wood carvers. We were just a bit late and they were closed. Back into the van and on the lookout for a place to eat, as it is now getting a little late. We decided on pizza. It was the best pizza we have had in NZ, but for some reason they don't believe in sauce here, which makes for a dry pizza.

We had a great day, and returned to Keri-Keri to pick up our car. As we pulled in we noticed that the trunk was a bit opened. Oops, we thought we had closed that. We had; unfortunately while we were gone someone had smashed in our car window. The entire inside of the car was covered in tiny glass shards. Who would have known it would shatter like that, not exactly safe if someone had been in the car. Maybe they used an atomic bomb? There really was that much glass everywhere. It took us over an hour just to clean enough of it out to be able to drive home. Fortunately they did not steal any of Sea Mouse's camping gear. The only thing missing was the face plate for the stereo, so now we don't have tunes. The next day David called around to get it fixed. He knew that there was a Honda Prelude like ours in the junk yard in Keri-Keri so we were able to get the window off of that car and it was only $175 to fix it. It could have been a lot worse.
New video added of sand dune boogie boarding.