The wonders of Cape Reinga

I was really surprised by how well I slept in the car for the rest of the night...I kind of folded myself into a shape that fitted into the curve of the seat – and it was actually quite comfortable! John was still sleeping when I woke up. And it was 9:00am! (So much for watching the sunrise...)

John had gotten eaten alive by sand flies during the night. His whole upper arm and chest were full of bites! I, however, got out relatively unscathed. Must be my Wisconsin blood :-)

We decided to take a dip in the lake and wash up. It was so refreshing to go for a swim and shampoo my hair!! Really got us ready for the day. But we were both extremely thirsty (water had run out during our drive...) and made it a top priority to find – a.) water b.) gas c.) breakfast (and in that order...) I even debated brushing my teeth with beer...but decided (and hoped!) we'd probably find water sooner than later.

Sure enough, we found a camp ground where a guy filled our water bottles and we got to brush our teeth. Then, no more than 5 minutes from there we hit a petrol station. And then 5 more minutes away was a mini supermarket where we got stuff for breakfast and lunch. Sweet as! (*Kiwi term here meaning “Cool” or “Awesome”...pretty self explanatory). It was nice to drive during the daylight again – the scenery was beautiful. Lots of farm land and cows and sheep. Every now and then we would see the coast and the water but we were on a mission to get to the Cape. We did stop to take pictures of a sickly looking Emu tho, and we even came across a cattle crossing! Kinda neat :-)

We arrived at Cape Reinga around noon, I think. There weren't too many people around so it was kind of nice that the place wasn't swarming with tourists. The combination of the mountains, Tasmin Sea, and the ocean was absolutely breathtaking. The water was a turquoise blue/green and the beach was completely deserted and stretched on for a good 2 miles or more. It was just awesome. The path had these little signs with historical facts and information about the are which was interesting to read up on. We walked to the lighthouse and took pictures under the sign that pointed to the major world cities – like LA!

John and I decided to make the trek down the mountain and see if we could get to the beach. I hiked the whole thing in my white sandals...again, not very conducive for tramping...I'd be waaaay impressed if these sandals made it to the end of the year. But I wouldn't bet money on it...

We made it all the way down to the beach and Jthen strolled with our feet in the sand and the waves splashing our toes. That has got to be one of my favorite sensations ever – love it!! About halfway down the beach we decide to turn around – this is a loooong beach! I couldn't get over how we had the whole thing completely to ourselves... But, we both wanted to go for a swim first :-) The waves were great and we body surfed some good ones! The water was cool and refreshing, but not too cold. Just perfect.

The wind had picked up on our walk back to the mountain. The sand skidded across the beach and our packs were covered in sand when we went to retrieve them. The tide was coming in as well, so we had to dash across the sand quickly at one point so as not to get splashed too much by the waves and avoid the shell covered rock.

The hike back up to the top was definitely a workout! I am excited to get in some more tramping so I can build up my steep climbing stamina! I was about ready for another dip in the ocean when we got back up to the top!!

We just decided to cruise back to Piahia and John would decide whether to drive on from there or stay the night. We chose to take a bit of a different route back, taking us through the center of the Northland, verses the east coast. In the car, I read something in my “New Zealand – Lonely Planet” book about some hot springs in Kaikohe – it said that it wasn't as well known as the ones in Roturua and that it was mostly used by the locals. I was like, awesome!! We should definitely go! So, I talked John into it and we eventually located the pools after asking a local how to get there.

The pool facility was not what I expected at all. It was actually kind of ghetto looking with this black, plastic fencing surrounding the entire thing. And there were a bunch of individual pools, all different shades of green or milky white...pretty disgusting looking actually, hehe. yet it was still called “Healing Waters.” Hmm... Oh, and smell...it was pretty potent! Rotten eggy, sulfury goodness.

I dipped my toes in a couple of the pools and couldn't even stand it, it was so hot. I kept testing different ones – one was too cool, and the rest were boiling! John came over and tried to get in one too and was having difficulty too! It didn't help that our feet were sunburned... John had the brilliant idea of going in butt first – any part of our body that hadn't been exposed to the sun could tolerate the heat. So, here we sat – in a pool with our legs and feet perched on the edge and our bums in the green water...haha, we must have been quite a site to see.

When I looked down to see how red my arms were from the water, I noticed the ring on my hand. Typically, it is silver with black leaves but the silver was turning black by the second! But, it's doesn't look half bad being black – gives it a bit of character I think :-)

So, eventually we got smart and went over to the worker fellow and asked him which ones were hot but not unbearably hot. he pointed us to a few other pools that we hadn't tried yet, and we finally found one that we could stand!! Haha. And, minus the smell, it felt awesome. After soaking for a bit, we decided to go visit with the worker guy. We found out that the pools were different colors because of the different minerals from the water sources.

It was about 7:30pm by the time we left. John decided he wanted to stay in a hostel for the night in Piahia and then drive south in the morning. So, once we got into town, we searched around for a hostel with open beds and got lucky to find a reception office that was still open after hours.

A shower after a sulfur bath and a bed after sleeping on the ground is so not overrated... ;-)