Almost back to Ahipara now, but we have one more place to stop at – a little inlet on the east side (whose name unfortunately escapes me). It is the best little holiday and fishing spot.

I didn’t see many flowers on the west side, but we found these babies thriving in sand on the east side – a sign that this coast line was far more sheltered.

After viewing the cape, we made our way back along the east coast (as opposed to the wild west coast). Things on this side was much calmer. It might have been a very sunny day, but the sea was still a touch too cold for me to swim in.

Cape Reinga isn’t just the northern most point of New Zealand, it also holds a lot of significance for the Maori people. They believe that the point is a leaping point for souls into the underworld.

We arrive at Cape Reinga. It’s where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. You can see the exact line the opposing currents meet by the way the water changes colour. The lighter coloured water is the Tasman, the darker the Pacific. Cape Reinga also has a lighthouse – a good idea when there are so many treacherous rocks about.

Eventually even the dunes peter out, to be replaced by a rocky coastline that is Cape Reinga – the top of New Zealand.

You might appreciate that with such a massive beach it would be supported by an extensive sand dune. Travelling 1km inland, we came to the place where the sand dunes met the bush. It provided a startling contrast.

Of course, where there are sand dunes, there’s adventure sports. No camels here, but plenty of punters sand boarding down the steep slopes.

Further along the beach, we passed the Hole in the Rock. Unlike the one in the Bay of Islands, this one is unaccessible to humans due to the wild surf, although there is apparently a seal colony there.

We’re only have way up Ninety Mile Beach. There are a few access points into the beach, but most people see it by 4WD. Which means that you have to know what you’re doing or your car can sink into the quicksand.

We stopped at The Bluff, a bombara where we spotted a few fishermen trying to salvage a catch out of the surf.

More accessible were the mounds of shells. Like middens in Australia, looks like the local Maoris have been using this place for a long while.