Day 1: Cape Reinga to Twilight Beach

Distance covered: 12 km

What a day. We are both just slipping into bed and talking about how great it feels to be out of the wind and warm.

The day started with a bus ride to the cape. We stopped at Gumdigger park and learned about Kauri trees with their long lives, big trunks, slow growth, and (to their detriment) the high economic value of their sap. Not too many Kauri trees left so it was interesting.

Next stop was the big sand dunes where we slid down on boards. If you got going fast enough you could skim pretty far across the shallow creek at the bottom. I bet we went ten meters or more. Good times.

We made one more brief stop, this time at a small bay so we could touch the Pacific Ocean. Then, all too soon, we were at the cape. Yikes! We were both pumped and in disbelief that it was really happening. The incredible view amped up the excitement.

The lighthouse on the left is the official starting point. We had to make our way down to it from the tour bus. Along the way we learned that the Maori believe their spirits travel through the cape on the way to three small islands in the distance. Here’s the obligatory starting point shot.

Then we put our backs against the pole, held hands, and took the ceremonial first step. Here we go!

We started at about 1 PM. The views were stunning. No picture can do it justice.

We made lunch at the bottom in a secluded bay, thought about how to better organize our packs, then headed out. The headwind was quite stiff… Perhaps 20 mph. With nothing to block it, it made for refreshing facial scrubs.

Then it was up and over a few small bluffs and hills. We got a taste of what they mean when they say New Zealand doesn’t believe in switchbacks as some of the trail was steeply up and down. Even the sand, though, was colorful with pinks, reds, blues, and browns.

After some meandering through the scrub forest, we dropped down onto Twilight Beach. The wind welcomed us. It must have been blowing 30 mph or more. We put our heads down and slogged forward. The ocean frothed violently on our right and sand whipped our ankles. We made it to camp a little after 5 PM where we poured sand from our shoes and set about getting ready for the evening.

While cooking we met a few of the hikers who also started today. We have a German, Britain, Cyprus, and us two Americans. Everyone wanted to know more about Trump and whether we thought he would win. For our part, it was fun to hear about where they were from and what brought people out on the trail.

For dinner we made too much couscous. It was tiny couscous that we hadn’t tried before and it was more like porridge. I made 5 servings, but the blandness and pasty consistency made for mediocre eating. Emily managed about two bowl fulls and I did about three. We were both forcing down each bite near the end. Good thing we have dinner variety.

Tomorrow we should make it to the start of 90 mile beach. One of the hikers said we can expect more of the high winds all day tomorrow. We also need to try to beat the tide. Onward to day two!