From 30 minutes up the beach the dunes of Ahipara were already quite a distance away.

Being a very open beach, the seas here are rough.

Very rough.

I’m starting a series of posts that revisit the northern most point of New Zealand. This is made of the expansive Ninety Mile Beach (which is actually only 55 miles long), accumulating in the impressive Cape Reinga.

We’ll start at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, at a town called Ahipara. This is a bit of a surfies hangout because of the good waves rolling in off the Tasman Sea.

Sunset is a good time to explore the nearby rock platform.