We have to admit, we had fun driving our car on the beach, and the sand dunes were awesome. We’re staying in a place called Ahipara, which is the beginning of the 90-mile beach. The 90-mile beach is actually 60 miles long. Maybe they left it up to the folks who frequent this place to measure it. It’s a designated road, but you should have a 4-wheel drive. You have to make sure you don’t drive on the beach two hours before or after high tide, or you might lose your car to the Tasman Sea. Apparently that happens quite frequently. This wide beach has long rolling waves that look perfect for surfing. There were a few folks sand sailing. We even saw some guys surfing in the shallow surf while being towed by a car.
Amy wasn’t exactly psyched at first about driving on the beach. Well, at second either. After a few miles though, she started to relax and take in the amazing scenery. It’s a little disconcerting though not seeing anyone else around for miles on this idealic beach. We started wondering if we had read the tide table incorrectly. There aren’t many opportunities to exit either. Toward the north end of the beach, you drive next to the sand dunes, and it seems unlikely that there’s anything inland for a while. To exit, you drive up a river next to the dunes. There are no markings or signs. You just have to know.
We stopped in the middle of the stream and climbed the dunes. We had a blast jumping off the side. A little further up people were surfing the higher dunes. Unfortunately it was the middle of the day, so we didn’t spend that long on the hot dunes.
Once inland, we followed the long unpaved road to Cape Reinga, at the end of the Island. It’s almost the most northern point of the North Island. It ended up being quite a long day, but worth it.
Once our fellow campers have exhausted the rest of the fireworks that they forgot to let off on New Years Eve, we’ll get some sleep. Good night.
3 comments:
Happy New Year!!
Looks like it's going to snow here tomorrow and I am envious of all the beach visiting you are doing...specially the jumping off the dunes bit, that sounds like such fun! We went on a family bike ride on New Year's day and then watched movies since it gets dark around 4pm here at this time of year..now it's all back to the grindstone - Tony's back to work today and the boys are back to school tomorrow. Well- we'll continue to live vicariously through you guys, how about that!
Love from Lara
It's hard to imagine snow since it's so warm here. It's strange to miss Winter. We'll enjoy the warm for you.
Love,
O
Yes, winter has it's special charm....here is the forecast for the next couple of days at Loveland Pass:
Tonight: Periods of snow with areas of blowing snow. Low around -9. Wind chill values as low as -22. Breezy, with a west northwest wind 23 to 26 mph decreasing to between 10 and 13 mph. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
Wednesday: Periods of snow showers with areas of blowing snow, mainly before 11am. Temperature falling to around -10 by 5pm. Wind chill values as low as -28. North northwest wind between 8 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -15. Wind chill values as low as -40. West northwest wind around 11 mph.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 10. Wind chill values as low as -39. West northwest wind between 11 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Anyway...Thanks again for sharing such an amazing journey with us! Happy New Year Webers!
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