20·Aug
We hit the road towards Shipwreck Bay, and after driving through racoons and hedgehogs (all roadkills), we end in the ramdomEST pub ever… It was literally in the middle of nowhere, and of course we chatted with a really nice lady while drinking our brews. We later found us a sweet spot right by the shipwreck bay beach to spend the night.
We woke up and had breakfast to a playful seal running around the beach
The ocean was flat that day so we headed to Cape Reinga, the northest point of the North Island. We stopped first at some point along the 90-Mile-Beach to observe the magnitude of the place.
Stunning.
Once at Cape Reinga we walked to the very end of the path and felt the peace of the place. You could actually see the two oceans crashing against each other, big swell to the west and calm to the east.
On our way down we stopped at the dunes and had lunch;
The day ends at Mangawhai Heads.
We woke up to a rainy morning so we decided that after breakfast we would drive to Benthells beach, where it was supposed to be nicer and the wave forecast was supposedly good. Turned out to be a lot messier than expected, although we discovered a couple of precious beaches.
Then we came up with an idea: What if we came back to Piha? We had nothing to lose and we loved that place so much the first time that were exited to come back. We went there, and definitely it was a perfect day to surf. When the sun went down we went to the town’s bar to have a beer (or two, or three) and met a lovely couple that after a nice chat invited us to have some pizza.
At this point we have to mention how amazed we are by the general kindness of people here. Most people are so friendly, open and interested in what are we doing. They worry about our wellbeing and they’re always willing to help if necessary. WELL DONE KIWIS!
Obviously Piha during the weekends has nothing to do with what we remembered. People from Auckland own beach houses here and they come to relax. There are a lot more cars around and families with children. We definitely preferred this town during the week! We’ve finally decided to stay till Monday and sleep at the camping (luxury day) to have a quiet sunny surfing morning before hit the road again!
(Rute from 17th to 24th Go and Return)