April 17 - 18, Cape Reinga, Te Paki (90 Mile Beach), Opukete, and Waipoua Kauri Forest

Cape Reinga at the northern tip of North Island is considered by Maori a jumping-off point for souls as they depart on the journey to their spiritual homeland. It definitely has that surreal end-of-the-world feeling as we stare into the surrounding waters on a beautiful morning. This is where Tasman Sea meets Pacific Ocean.

 Cape Reinga

We get sand dune happy around Te Paki, close to 90 Mile Beach. Just like the rest of the Far North Region, this rough and beautiful area feels secluded and deserted, with barely any people, just cattle and sheep. In over an hour of driving we haven't passed another car on the road. 

Contrast is what makes these places amazing, going from lush green... 

...to giant sweeps of sand

 Te Paki sand dunes

Late afternoon we drive back south along the west coast. Small town of Opukete is captivating, tucked into a beautiful, lush mountain setting with sand dunes gazing back from across the bay and best fish’n chips we’ve had in NZ.  Surreal light conditions painted with voluptuous storm clouds and setting sun the color of flowing lava render vegetation saturated lime, making contrast with the sky eye-popping. By the time we get down to the beach we’re out of breath, trying to capture as much of this fleeting moment as possible. This is by far the best off-the-beaten-track corner of New Zealand we’ve accidentally stumbled upon.

 tasting of salt and sea this huge single portion of fish'n chips was perfection for $6 - and about half of what it costs anywhere else

Opukete - knocking off your feet beauty. New Zealand in a capsule. 

April 16, Hundertwasser in Kawakawa and Doubtless Bay

If we thought for a minute we could take vacation from our profession as we travel, we were wrong. Nowhere was this more evident than this morning in Kawakawa, when we walked into…public toilets - our excitement reaching that of school kids getting into a candy shop. Designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser in 1899, the small enclosure, sandwiched by a bank on one side and a restaurant on the other, stands out from the gloomy neighbors like a happy kid on the block.  Outside, colorful assortment of glazed tile in organic shapes stacked as columns, stemming from the ground and pulling parts of the pavement with them, supports vegetated roof formed around centrally located tree.  Tiled exterior flooring flows inside, where edges of horizontal and vertical surface melt into one another forming a maze of recycled and reused materials - sustainable architecture at its best. We get several curious looks as we photograph every possible detail, fascinated with the use of glass bottles and morphing tile work masking sewage line, among other ingenious, if slightly idiosyncratic, applications. An architectural highlight of the month, it’s a design on sugar rush that just made us happy washing our dirty limbs…and reminded us about our fixation for life.

Phantasmagoric Hundertwasser in Kawakawa

Following SH10 north we stop at several beaches along east coast, arriving late afternoon at Cape Reinga dressed in concrete clouds and rain.  Shortly after scanning the grounds at the very end of North Island, we decide on walking parts of Coastal Track tomorrow and spend the rest of the day by the rugged coastline beach nearby. Staring into the waters where Tasman Sea meets Pacific Ocean,  it’s hard to believe our journey has come to an end - it seems as if we just left our apartment in Chicago, over packed but excited for the unknown. With its end-of-the-world aura, Cape Reinga fittingly sums up five months of our travels, plans for another venture already lurking at the back of our minds. 

Doubtless Bay

Parked for the night at Cape Reinga 

April 15, Te Henga (Bethells), sister beaches, and Cascade Kauri Forest

Another raw beach beauty, Te Henga [Bethells] in the morning, then a quick internet stop at the library and drive north until we reach camp passed Whakapara. 

It's another black sand beach with big surf and windswept dunes. Scenery from The Piano unfolds in front of us...

exposed by low tide

these just casually grow on the side of the road

Cascade Kauri Forest

April 14, Waitakere Regional Park: Katakare, Puhi, and Anawhata on Tasman coast

Balance of planning and spontaneity was the recipe we aimed for on this trip from the start. However, even though our itinerary was flexible and changed several times along the way, the realization we have bypassed initially planned visit to China was hard getting over right after coming to New Zealand. Such ugly can be unsatisfied human nature. Today, stepping onto a beach in Katakare, it hit us just how extremely lucky we’ve been having an opportunity to travel for these past several months. Any regrets seem irrelevant and it doesn’t matter what could’ve been. We’ve been having the time of our life.
And these beaches on the Tasman coast…rugged, untamed, full of character, swallowed us whole. 

Katakare and Puhi. Very different coastal scenery even thought two towns are stone’s throw apart.

Night at Anawhata, perched on a hill.