We'll do 500 kilometers today folks, you might want to fasten your seat belts... (Part 7)

When we boarded our bus for our tour to the northern-most tip of the North Island, our bus driver/tour guide greeted us and gave us the basic itinerary for the day. It was the same spiel that his company's brochure promised of course, but then he added. "Although on a bus, seat belts are not mandatory, and I won't be doing a seat check, you might want to buckle up. We're doing 500 kilometers today." 

We all soon found out that his last statement was not just talk. Driving that distance on New Zealand's very curvy, climbing and falling roadways was not going to be like a drowsy amble, it was going to be an edge of your seats, athletic event. I soon found myself watching the road ahead and getting ready to lean into the next curve. I slept like a rock that night and it wasn't because of all the hiking we did, or the sights we saw, or the photographs I took. It was because I was tired from the bus ride. 

But it was great. The driver was a very nice guy and had a great sense of humor and an almost  never-ending stream of facts to keep us entertained. He also though, recognized that some quiet travel time was pleasant, and told us a couple of times that he was going to give us periods of silence to just enjoy the scenery we were passing. Unless we had a question, of course.

So here's our bus. We were almost the last to board it at our hotel so we were seated in the back where the occasional bounce could have put daylight between us and our seats if we hadn't been securely fastened to it by our seatbelts. 

Welll, the sign says it takes 5 minutes to walk. But that's IF you don't want to stop and admire the trees for a while. I could have spent more time here.

There was a boardwalk the entire way. 

What an amazing place. 

This is a Maori Pa, or earthworks, shaped as a defensive site. 

We were told that Maori Chiefs were buried on top of that rock.

This is our morning tea break beach. It is near Taipa. You are looking out across Doubtless Bay and this is where the Maori first came ashore after leaving their home islands. 

They would have come from that direction.

It's tea time. In a few minutes, we boarded the bus again and covered some miles, ah, kilometers toward our lunch stop. We'll be eating an early lunch today because once we leave there, we will be heading up into the tip of the North Island, and there are no cafe's up there. Even the electricity stops. 

And now it's lunch time. We're at Wagner's Holiday Park on Houhora Harbour. We're having fish and chips. 
This is just a little place way out in the middle of nowhere, but the cafe took care of feeding our busload with remarkable speed. We were greeted by a short assembly line of workers who put togther our meals of fish and chips with efficiency and smiles.

Impressive rocks and hills here.

Some Holiday Park patrons no doubt off for a paddle. 

Our next stop, just a short time later, was at the Te Paki Sand Dunes. Those who wanted to could ride a sandboard. By the way, that is the Quicksand Stream they are crossing to get to the dune. 

You think that is a big sand dune, well check out the next picture. 

You'd get a great ride on that, but I'd hate to think of climbing it again. 

We're back on the bus and heading north again. Next stop is Cape Reinga. I can't wait. It will be the subject of my next post.  -djf