- This was the day for our big hike. We heard that the hike to the Pinnacles was well worth doing and so we decided we'd do it... plus, it was free and that's always good! :) It was a six hour round trip hike up a mountain (and back down). We walked over Nepalese bridges, rock staircases of never ending stairs, wooden stairs, ladders, climbed over rocks and trees... the list goes on. Lets just say this was a true hike :) The trail followed the old trail the gumdiggers used to use back in the 1920's when kauri gum was a heavy industry. I can't imagine walking that everyday with cows and donkeys carrying cargo. Amazing! When we finally got to the top, the view was amazing! Well, after 3 hours of hiking straight up a mountain, it should have been spectacular... and it was. We could see the rolling hills throughout the peninsula and out in the distance, we could see the ocean. It was beautiful! When we finally arrived back at the car 6 hours later, we were releaved and felt so accomplished. It definitely wasn't something I'd do again in the near future, but it was really fun! Our legs definitely felt all those stairs the next morning though :(
Thursday:
- We got up early, stretched our legs out, and headed to Paihia, the top of the island. It was a six hour drive and Logan was a trooper and drove the whole way :) We stopped in Whangarei and hung out with some friends we met at uni who lived there. They took us to Whangarei falls, a pretty high waterfall that emptied into a big pond, and we hung out at their house for a bit. On the way up north, there was a toll tunnel that had just recently been installed. In the states, normally there are toll collecters who collect the fee when you drive through. However, at this toll, it was electronic. We didn't quite understand what to do, so we drove on through without bothering to pay or anything. Little did we know, that was actually a felany! Good thing our friends told us where we had to pay... we drove to a collecting station. We put in our license plate and it showed exactly how much we owed! Oh, the power of technology. We finally got up to Paihia in the early evening and we mosied around the town and stopped at a few beaches.
- We got up early and went on our first "paid" excursion of the trip... a bus tour to Cape Reinga and the 90 Mile Beach. Without a 4 wheel drive car and experience driving in those conditions, it was impossible to drive onto the beach itself and experience all its worth, so the tour was a good idea. The driver's name was Barry and he was the best! He was so knowledgeable and hilarious, he kept us entertained the entire time... and sometimes, the drive was pretty long between stops.
- We stopped first at the kauri forest. There were big trees that were thousands of years old, so they were massive! There's a lot of history to them and it's believed that if you hug a kauri tree, all the nutrients from the tree transfer to you. So, we hugged the tree!
- Our next stop was the Ancient Kauri Kingdom, the last stop for bathroom and food :) We got some fish and chips and Logan eyed out a pounamu necklace that he fell in love with. Good thing we'd return to this store on our way home, so he had time to decide if he really wanted it!
- Next, we were off to the Cape Reinga. It was a far drive, but we made friends with these two teenage boys from London who were here on holiday. We talked about a bunch of different things, and they were fascinated to hear we were from Hawaii. As we approached the Cape, Barry broke out into a karanga and waiata welcoming us to this sacred place. Because this is the tip top of the North Island, the Maori believe that the spirits of the dead come together at the tip of the Cape at a tree called Te Aroha and then they depart to Hawaiki. This was also a special place because we were able to send postcards that are each postmarked by hand with their own special seal that was meant to bring good luck to the receiver. Enjoy the good luck that comes with postcards we sent you from this place, and also keep them... they're a collectable! Another fun thing we did here was plant a native tree. We planted a pohatukawa, a native Christmas tree. We were given the GPS coordinates, so we can google earth it's progress :)
- Next stop was the sand dunes!!! This was AWESOME! Barry drove the bus right over a quicksand stream and onto the sand. He was an experienced "sand-duner" and taught us the tips and tricks to have a great time. We each grabbed a boogie board and climbed up a 36 meter dune. It was pretty steep and it reminded our legs of the strenuous hike we'd only done a few days earlier. I was really scared once I got to the top of the dune... it was reeeeal steep and I watched a few people eat it and it looked sore! Logan went and he gave me the thumbs up at the bottom, so I went for it! It was so fun!! The only problem was the walk back up... yikes.
- Our final stop for the day was the 90 Mile beach. We drove onto the beach and got to play in the shorebreak for a bit. The tide is really unpredictable and it's really easy to get swept out to sea, so we weren't allowed to go for a swim. Logan and one of the English boys attempted to dig for clams underneath the sand, but weren't so successful. It was great though. The beach has been deemed a highway and has the speed limit of 100 km/h, which I thought was hilarious. It's only 60 miles long, not 90 and it's a mystery as to why exactly it was given that name, but there are a few theories. We drove along about half of the beach and it was amazing how long it was. Because of the rip tides, car rental companies have a clause in their contract that says "do not drive on the 90 mile beach." We saw evidence of what happens if you ignore that clause.... there was a car buried beneath the sand and only the roof of the car barely layed exposed.
- We ended up stopping at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom on our way home and Logan bought a pounamu necklace. It was really nice and after staring at himself in the mirror for half an hour and getting the opinion of nearly everyone in sight, he settled on the "perfect" one.
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