Far North Road Trip: Te Paki Sand Dunes: Top of the Dunes (Aupouri Peninsula, New Zealand)
January 28, 2013
After huffing and puffing our way up the steep sand hill, we were rewarded with an astonishing sight: sand mountains and dunes surrounded us as far as we could see. It was like suddenly finding ourselves in the middle of the Sahara desert, or an alien sand planet.
The other astonishing thing was how beautiful this was! Cloud shadows played across sand so light it looked like snow. Patterns in the sand rippled and changed in the wind. A place like this could easily feel desolate, but the quality and play of the light and the movement of the sand made it feel alive, almost mystical. This wasn’t “just sand dunes.” This place had the same enchanted feeling we’d noticed up at the cape, and we both felt a little overwhelmed by wonder and awe. –Cyndi
At the top of the hill we found . . . more hills! (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)And more hills. (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)And more hills. (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)We could not resist doing more climbing to see what might be over the next hill. (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)Of course, there were still more hills. (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)Taking a rest and enjoying the feeling of being here. (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)The play of light on the sand was beautiful. (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)The wind made moving patterns in the sand. (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)Sand blowing off the side of one hill. (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)Looking back at our footprints in the first hill after we got back to the car. (Te Paki Sand Dunes, New Zealand)
