Cape Reinga

The lighthouse at Cape Reinga
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From Paihia we drove through Kerikeri and onto Kahoe, nothing more than a couple of farms along a road. Here we stayed at Kahoe Farm hostel, probably one of the nicest hostels we have stayed in so far. That afternoon we drove up to the Karikari Peninsula and treated ourselves to a nice lunch at New Zealand's northernmost winery. After a walk on Matai Beach, we drove back to Kahoe.

The farm was built by the grandfather of the current owner back on 1870 and is made out of Kauri wood, beautiful.

Cape Maria van Diemen
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The next day we headed to the Aupori Peninsula, a narrow 100km stretch up to Cape Reinga, believed by Maori to be the 'place of leaping', where the spirits of the dead depart. Cape Reinga is the northernmost point of New Zealand, a cape with a pretty lighthouse (indicating distances to major cities such as London - 19000km).

Here we spent some time watching the waves of the Tasman Sea meet the currents of the Pacific Ocean and enjoy the beautiful weather (that we had not had for a few days). We drove back via the 20km gravel road up tp Henderson Bay, about 60km south. Here we stayed at North Wind Lodge, a beautiful spot but the guesthouse was pretty old and run down.

Cape Reinga - you can see where the Tasman sea meets the Pacific Ocean
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We met an english couple from the Lake District and got some pretty good tips about the Galapagos Islands and southern Chile, making it easier for us to plan our trip down there in a week or so.