Kaitaia to Mangonui (via Cape Reinga)

We left Kaitaia at checkout time and headed north to Cape Reinga. We wanted to camp up at the end of it at a beautiful campground called Tapotapotu. The owner of the motel pointed it out on the map and told us how spectacular it is. “But don’t take your eyes off your stuff. Not even to go swimming.”

We headed up the Cape. It’s about 1 hr 45 min from Kaitaia. It wasn’t long before we saw an ominous omen:

We brushed it off and headed on up. When we finally made it to the end, the scenery was spectacular!

Note South America in the background:

We did go to the campground, but were spooked out of camping so just spent the afternoon. On the way back down, we stopped at Te Paki dunes. This is an area where giant sand dunes just terminate right at the edge of the forest. 

After the Cape, we headed east and stopped at Mangonui.

Total trip cost to date: $12,167.26 USD