Tapotupotu - New Zealand's Most Northern Campsite...

 This is Tapotupotu Bay... the most beautiful place...

 The turnoff is 7km south of Cape Reinga... The gravel road

winds down the hill to a well kept but basic Department of

Conservation campsite... Toilets and cold water.

 The beach is lovely, the sea amazing but dangerous...

Drownings have occurred so need to be careful...

 At the south end of the beach the sea feeds a small estuary.

We stopped here on our way home...

 To walk along the newly built board walk...

 And have a look at the recently installed footbridge.

 Tapotupotu beach and the surrounding hills are part of the 

coastal walkway. With this bridge over the estuary the whole

walkway is now accessible in all weathers and at all tides.

I have been here several times but I always fall in love with

with the place... Again! I will look forward to spending time

there again when I am in the Far North with my bus... 

Well stocked up with food and fishing gear and buckets

of mosquito repellent.  No cell phone reception though...

Good or bad - depending on your viewpoint and needs.

Te Paki... Northern-Most New Zealand

 I went with a group of friends to stay here... At Te Paki...

In this house owned by the Department of Conservation for it's

workers and rangers. My friends work for DoC so for a small

payment we were able to stay here. It's about 21km south of

Cape Reinga... We got there, lit the fire and settled

in for the night.

 The surrounding countryside is so green... It rains a lot that's why!

 The next morning I went for a walk while waiting for my

friends to do their 'family' thing with a small child.

 I just wandered along the road... Now a lovely sealed road.

It was only in 2010 that the last 21km of State Highway 1...

The last 21km before Cape Reinga was sealed. Before that

it was a narrow, rutted, pot holey, gravel road that produced

clouds of enveloping dust... You can now drive 2022km north

to south... All sealed.

 

 Spring seemed to be in the air... The gamboling lambs...

 I walked to this stream and the tall leaning Kanuka trees...

A tree endemic to New Zealand that can grow to 30 meters tall.

 It was lovely just dawdling along in the cool early morning sun.

Then it was home for breakfast and onto other places...

The Cape... Te Paki sandhills... Tapotupotu Bay...

Te Paki straddles the northern most tip of the north island

of New Zealand, on the small narrow Te Aupouri Peninsula.

It is one of the most intact and diverse ecosystems in New Zealand.

It extends from coastal dunes and wetlands through extensive shrubland

to tall forest. Te Paki provides habitats for a wide range of native 

plants and animals, all moulded together to form a unique and

dynamic area... Now 23,000 hectares in all.

It consists of the Te Paki Station bought by the Crown in 1966

but was originally a wedding gift made by Maori to Sam Yates

and his new bride, Maori chieftaness Ngawini... Read

the history here... It's fascinating...

The crown bought the Mokaikai Block in 1973 and a number

of dunes which adjoin the Te Paki stream in 1983. This

whole area is set aside by the Government for permanent reserves.

Managed together with North Cape, a scientific reserve and Motuopao
Island, a nature reserve, this whole area is known as Te Paki Farm Park,

managed by the Department of Conservation whose objectives

are to provide recreational opportunities and to protect

both the natural and cultural environment...

It's a  great area of New Zealand to visit.