Cape Reinga

Oh my, what a place!

We left the camp quite early this morning and began the 110 km drive to the Cape. More than 1/2 of the journey was on a gravel road and of course it was twisting turning road through farm country. We have never seen so many sheep and cows! The herds are huge. Bob figures it would take a tanker per farm to collect the milk. Today we also saw wild turkey and a few goats.

The terrain became more and more mountainous as we neared the Cape and as we have found on so many occasions since being here, we rounded a sharp curve and the surprising vista before us was so astounding that we almost left the road. We parked the van and climbed a huge knoll and at the top were rewarded with the spectacular view of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meeting in what are called "confused seas". The Tasman Sea is turquoise and the Pacific is a dark blue. Looking down from the cliffs high above the water, our breath literally left our bodies. We sat and stared for the longest time. Below us was the lighthouse and we climbed down to another beautiful sight, this one a bit closer to the water. A sign has been erected beside the lighthouse, indicating the direction and km's to: London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Los Angeles, Vancouver (11,222 km) and Sydney. Really neat and yes, we did take photo's.

Following lunch with this view, we trundled back down the road and moved on to the east coast. We'd been told of the most famous fish and chip shop in a small harbour town and we took advantage of the close proximity to our route. It lived up to it's reputation. You eat with your fingers and we consumed every last bit and laughed as we looked at each other and saw oily fingers and faces. What a treat!

We bought fresh avocado right by the side of the highway; $2 N.Z. for 6 large.
The kiwi fruit is wonderful and we are eating it like a boiled egg (thanks Paul and Maggie), cutting off the top and eating it with a spoon. Yum, yum!

The seafood is inexpensive and delicious.

We buy the newspaper every couple of days and in the news:
-Possible evacuation of New Zealanders and Australians from Fiji
- Cleanup of all city waterfronts
- Complaints of littering
- Complaints of global warming
- Better treatment of the Maori

If you eliminated the names, it could be Canada. As a matter of fact, N.Z. reminds us very much of all the wonders of our country packed into a tiny country....and we haven't even visited the South Island yet. The roads remind us of Jamaica with all the tight turns although the drivers here are not as crazy as in Jamaica.

Enough for today. Tomorrow we head for the southern parts of this island.

Sharon