First Section Done!

So, 101km down, only 2799km to go. We've spent the last 4 days on 90 mile beach and made it to Ahipara. Its been pretty amazing so far, although we're definitely pleased to be away from the sand for a bit. Dennis' boast that he wasn't going to get a single grain of sand in his pack was over in the first 15 minutes when he discovered the hose to his hydration pack had come unattached so everything had to come out onto the beach to save his stuff from getting drenched.

The landscape was awesome at first, but did get monotonous by the end. We were walking over crazy dunes, cliff edges and wide open beaches. It was pretty surreal having endless sand dunes to our left, flat beach in front of us and crashing waves to the right day after day. By the third day, when there were no distinguishable landmarks for the entire day, we were beginning to go a bit crazy. "Is that a bus on the horizon or just two seagulls perfectly placed so that they look like headlights?" The buses were a highlight though. Tourists flew by at 100km an hour on their way up to Cape Reinga. We managed to get a wave out of everyone, but one short bus thought it was hilarious to swerve right towards us and turn away at the last minute - scary the first time, funny the second, it was getting a little old by the third time.

Other than that we've seen seals, wild horses - 15 of them strolling past our campsite, and its rained every night. We're hanging out at the Ahipara Backpackers and Motor Camp until this afternoon then starting the trek to Kerikeri which should take about 5 days. We're feeling a little sore and are still getting along, no one's thrown a tantrum... yet.

Hope you're all good and we'll be in touch in Kerikeri.

Alice

pictures:

The start at Cape Reinga
Walking through crazy sand dunes
Our first campsite
Our vista for 4 days