Author: richwest3

January 29, 2013

There are essentially three entrances to Ninety Mile Beach.  The north entrance is only accessible via the Te Paki Stream.  The south entrance is near the town of Kaitaia.  The Hukatere entrance lies in the middle, at the end of a long, unpaved road that meanders through the eucalyptus and pine-filled Aupouri Forest.

The nice thing about the Hukatere entrance is the remoteness of it.  In spite of a lovely forest drive and the possibility of seeing wild horses in the evening, not many people come here.  The lure of the giant dunes to the north and Kaitaia and clam digging to the south overshadows what the middle entrance has to offer.  It’s not as stunning as the Te Paki area, but the small dunes here are quite pretty, with grass-covered tops that look like camel humps.  The beach is very wide and covered with shells at the shoreline, the sea a beautiful blue-green.

Aside from being a nice place to see, it’s by far the easiest entrance to manage by car. Basically you come the end of the road and if you like, you can drive right onto the beach. The sand is packed hard and the beach is amazingly wide.  At this point, we decided to do the beach on foot.

There was one car parked on the beach using a very long line and a kite to fish from the beach, and we saw him reel in a couple of fish.  I will mention here that while Ninety Mile Beach is considered a “highway,” it’s not organized in any way.  Cars park here and there along the shore to fish or picnic, and I’m not sure you need to worry about what side of the “road” you’re on.  All you need to do is not hit anyone, but that’s not a challenge because there’s so much room.  You do need to watch out for fishing lines!

Satisfied that the sand was packed hard enough, we decided to drive on the beach, mostly just to say we’d done it.  We made two huge circles, getting a big kick out of driving on a beach, this one in particular.  After conquering Ninety Mile Beach, we headed south to our next stop. –Cyndi

January 29, 2013

After Paua, it was time to head south.  We had room booked in Kaitaia, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula, and had a few things to see on the way down there.  Our next stop was the Lion Red Houhora Tavern, an actual “point of interest” on my road map.

The place was pretty basic, but it had nice waterfront view of Houhora’s natural harbor just outside.  We could see what looked like ducks on the water, but on closer inspection we realized it was a flock of black swans.  That was a pretty exciting surprise!

A less exciting surprise was the $56 price tag for our early lunch.  The food was decent, but ouch!  It’s a reminder to check those beer and coffee prices before you order. –Cyndi

January 29, 2013

As we were driving down the unpaved road , we had an unexpected demonstration of modern-day sheep herding and pulled over to watch.

We have always thought of sheep as creatures that blindly follow each other (hence the phrase “sheep mentality”).  Today we discovered that’s not true.  They are surprisingly independent thinkers, and there are plenty of rugged individualists who would rather break from the herd.  This is where the dogs come in.

I’ve always pictured dogs working alongside the farmer, but in fact they work at the far corners of the herd, places the farmer is nowhere near.  They start by gathering all the sheep into one huge group, then hold them there until the farmer is ready; then they move ‘em out.  How those dogs know where to draw the line, the boundaries where sheep are and aren’t permitted to be, and then where to move them, I can’t imagine.  It’s pretty amazing to watch.

On the drive back, we had another show as we needed to pull over and wait for the sheep, now crossing the road ahead of us.  This time the farmer was using his other assistant, the ATV, while the dogs supervised.  This was Rich’s first lesson on where sweaters come from. –Cyndi

January 29, 2013

After Rarawa Beach, I had one more white-sand stop in mind. Parengarenga Harbor is a natural harbor along the peninsula, nearly enclosed by the huge dune-covered sandspit named Te Kokata.  There’s no real way to get out to the dunes (although a avid hiker/camper could do it), but there are a couple of spots where you can see them.  We opted to go to a lookout in Paua, which meant searching out another hard-to-find, unpaved road.

After driving through grassy land and hills that reminded me very much of Santa Barbara, we parked by a decrepit barn, headed through a gate, and walked out to a point over the water.  The view was amazing.  We could see the big white sand dunes across the water, again looking like snow-covered hills, but the water was also striking, all shades of turquoise, teal and navy blue.  It was windy here and the water covered with whitecaps.  It all added up to a strange combination of Santa Barbara, a tropical lagoon, and a windy day at the north pole.  So far today we’d seen two mind-bending places, and it wasn’t even 11 o’clock. –Cyndi

January 29, 2013

While the west side of the Aupouri Peninsula (Ninety Mile Beach and Te Paki Dunes) gets all the glory, the east side gets overlooked, barely mentioned in guidebooks.  The one-sentence mention in my Frommer’s guide described “silica sand so white you need dark glasses.”  I pieced together information from bus tour brochures on where we could go to see this sand.

Rarawa Beach was a few miles north of our inn and was our first stop.  After barely spotting the side road and making a quick right, we headed down the unpaved road until it dead-ended by the shore. (I’ll mention here that side roads here are really hard to spot; if you’re coming this way, bring a detailed map book, sharp eyes, and a car that makes quick U-turns.)  After making our way between a couple of dunes, I caught my breath as the beach scene came into view.

I expected white sand, but this was so white it looked like snow, and the areas where sand collected looked like snow drifts.  In the middle of this was a blue-green river, a color so striking against the white of the sand.  The sand itself was powdery soft, again like snow.  I just could not get over walking around with my eyes telling me I see snow, but my skin telling me it was warm.  It was one of the most surreal places I have ever been, looking more like a set for a Santa movie than anything I’ve seen in real life.  It was magical, but it was hard to get over the frustration of not being able to throw snowballs at Rich. –Cyndi