the bay of islands

the pipi patch... as posted before, a pipi is a small sand crab/shellfish that is found in abundance in the bay of islands. my base up here is in the town of paihia, and the backpackers is called the pipi patch, which makes me giggle.

i took the kiwiexperience bus from auckland to paihia on monday morning, riding up the northern peninsula with a gang-load of other backpackers, all coming from australia or going to australia and originating from the u.k. or canada or australia. our bus driver was kiwi dave and he was entertaining - fast talking, joke cracking, fast driving and he really hates possums. it rained most of the trip up, we stopped at a road side stand for morning tea (kind of like second breakfast) and made it into paihia just after noon.

after being in auckland for the better part of a week and dodging cars and window shopping as soon as we arrived in paihia i checked into the backpackers, dropped my bags, grabbed my jacket and was out the door like a shot. there are two small cafe lined streets that run perpendicular to the shore and there are hiking points in several directions. the guidebook recommended a 4km hike to haruru falls so i went with that. i am very good at finding the long road, so of course i managed to walk the road to the falls instead of the path, effectively making the trek a loop when it wasn't intended to be. but, i found my way to the falls, which were less than stunning, but the walk back... that was gorgeous. the actual trail, once i found it, was very scenic, a gravel path broken with roots here and there, overgrown ferns and mangrove trees, small foot bridges here and there to manage over creeks and a freshwater river that flows into the bay. the only sounds were the birds and water drops on the leaves and my own footsteps. in 3 hours i only passed 2 other hikers. there were signs every so often warning that no dogs were allowed because it was native kiwi bird habitat - which made me certain that i was going to catch a glimpse of the rare and barely seen brown kiwi bird in it's natural setting. i was so certain of this that several times i stopped dead, sure that i had just seen one, only to be sorely disappointed when the moss covered tree stump in the bush ahead of me didn't move as i approached. it is more likely for me to win the lottery than see one of these birds in the wild, but then again every time i play the lotto i am certain that i will win, and am again sorely disappointed when i don't.

the hike ended (or started and ended for most people) at a golf course at the edge of paihia. i had no idea how much kiwis liked golf. there are golf courses e-v-e-r-ywhere. i think the bus driver said there were over 500 courses between the two islands. 500 courses for 4.3 million people.

monday night there was a bbq here at the hostel which was fun and rambuctious and involved conversations in broken english and a lot of sign language amongst new friends (from belgium, france, england, the netherlands, canada and australia).

tuesday i took a bus up the peninsula from paihia to the kauri forest, cape reinga and then back via 90 mile beach (which is 40 miles long at the most). the bus was a mix of backpackers and proper travelers (those who stay in hotels) and it was a loooong day. the first stop was the kauri forest preserve, home to new zealand's oldest, tallest and most famous trees, the kauri. kauris are a type of conifer that are native to new zealand. they typically grow very straight, very tall, and can live to be thousands of years old. there are many projects in the works to revive the kauri population after european explorers cut them down in mass to build houses, ships and furniture.

beyond the kauri forest we made it to the tip top of the north island and cape reinga, most widely known as the spot where the tazman sea and the pacific ocean meet. there is an operational lighthouse marking the point and many hiking trails that snake along the bluffs and down to the beach. cape reinga is a very spiritual place for the maori people, it is the spot that they believe spirits enter the spirit world when people die. the coast here is dramatic, rocky cliffs and sweeping sand dunes combined with bush and trees that have been dwarfed by the constant wind and salt and sand.

after the cape the bus drove over to the west coast towards 90 mile beach, with a stop for folks to partake in sandboarding along/down the dunes. sandboarding is hiking up to the top of the sand dune with a boogy board, kicking off your shoes, and sliding down the sand on your belly and trying to stop before you get to the river (as it was cold and raining... had the weather been warmer the river ending would have been a goal). post boarding, the bus actually drove down 90 mile beach, at impressive speeds. we stoped at a few rocky outcroppings for photos and were lucky enough to spot a band of wild horses before we spooked them off. on a clear day the rumor is that many of the hundreds of islands can be seen from the coast, but as our luck would have it the rain and cloud cover only allowed us to see a few hundred meters off the beach.

back on the road we stopped at kauri world, a gift shop/workshop of sorts for things carved out of old kauri trees that have been dug out of rivers and farm land after someone (probably a white guy) cut them down, took what they needed, and left the rest. some of the cuttings are thousands of years old. the owner of the shop took a 50 ton piece that was excavated out of a stream and stood it upright, cut a spiral staircase out of the center and made it the centerpiece of his shop.

back to the hostel around 6pm for more backpacker shenanagans... the pipi patch has a bar and a hot tub - both are backpacker luxuries and both get used!