NZ Jaunt: Fifth Post

As promised, here is the fifth post--the second today.

Is that an 'o' or an 'u'? Don't ask me!

Coffee Shop in Downtown Kaitaia, NZ

Below you see a table in our campground main office in Ahipara. It's crafted from a single piece of an unearthed ancient Kauri tree trunk. Since cutting kauris has been illegal since 1967, all furniture and other items must be crafted out of kauris that are dug out of the earth, (most often 3-4 meters below the surface of the northern farmlands.) As you can see, the wood is beautifully burled.

Kauri Dining Table, Ahipara, NZ

Today--yes we're finally caught up--we took a tour up the Ninety-Mile-Beach, to the Cape Reinga Lighthouse, at the very top of New Zealand. Below you see the gang on the beach with the surf behind them, as we're just setting out. The speed limit on the beach is ostensibly 100 kph, but as our tour director, Allen, said, "It's not like the police are waiting, hidden in the sand dunes along the beach with their radar guns!"

Cal, Colleen & Cailin; Beach bums, Ninety Mile Beach, NZ

We were EXTREMELY lucky to catch a glimpse of the wild horses that live just inland from the beach, among the dunes and forests there. I just pointed and shot the camera, but the results were excellent, I think, as you see them in full gait, as they run from our tour bus.

Wild Horses on Government Land, Ninety-Mile-Beach, NZ

Below you see the results when tourists try to navigate the beach. That rusty pile is all that's left of a car that got caught during high tide out on the beach. There are only three access points to the inland from the beach, and so you need to be keenly aware of the tidal charts before you set out on the trek. What REALLY stinks, is that any vehicle caught and destroyed in such fashion is not covered by any insurance!!

The Wreck of the Edsel FitzSimmons, 90-Mile-Beach, NZ

Below, at the mail stop, we see the "rock with a hole"

Holey Rock, 90-Mile-Beach, NZ

Mail delivery, along with some groceries for a man and his dog.

P0S 1C0, 90-Mile-Beach, NZ

Quick Sand!

Another reason tourists should stay off the beach, is that the northernmost access point to the inland, is via a shallow riverbed. Many times, the Conservation authorities have to respond to travellers who have slowed down too much, and become mired in the "quick" sand. (You've got to drive quick to escape its ruinous clutches!)