The Far North

We were staying in Whatuwhiwhi on the Karikari peninsula but we were keen to head further north, so our second day on the road was on board the Cape Runner. This was a bus tour around varioius bits of local Maori land and small holdings, Cape Reinga (farthest northern point of NZ), sandboarding on enormous dunes on the west coast and driving back to Kaitaia via the famous 90 Mile Beach. The guy driving our bus was a local Maori guy who seemed to do everything: teacher by term, bus driver by holidays and a variety of jobs in between such as volunteer firefighter, rugby coach and I think, driving instructor. Anyways, he was a top boy, giving us all the local history and taking us to some beautiful spots on the east coast while on our way to to the Cape. 

Ice-cream time

Finally up at the Cape...

There wasn't too much time to hang around taking photos of lighthouses and signpost as there was some sandboarding to get involved with. Pretty much sledging on sand, and in true Kiwi style, there's no disclaimers or warning, it's just climb to the top and go for it!

Time to grow up and head back down the road, so it was the grid-lock of 90 Mile Beach - an official highway in NZ. Stunning. 

After a long day out and in true Edinburgh style, it was chips and haime so we headed to the Mongonui chippy for dinner over the bay. Pretty decent setting. 

I got a bit of stick from the girls when we got back to our Unit as I had some marking to do. Yeah, I know, I know, but the, "McAvoy, you've changed", chat was pretty hypocritical given the state Suzy and Iona were in after about half an hour back home...

 LM.