When I looked at booking a coach tour so we could drive along 90 Mile Beach – a long standing dream of mine – most of the tours I researched left from the Bay of Islands. It just didn’t make sense to me – get up at some ungodly hour to catch a bus in Paihia and then roll back home after 7 in the evening. And the cost was prohibitive. So I looked a bit further and found a local tour company that leaves from Kaitaia, just south of the peninsula. It meant a 120km drive to Kaitaia, but we decided to do it slowly and enjoy the day.
Thank goodness I did – our drive across the top of the Island was amazing. A stop in Kerikeri brought back memories of our visit there 15 years ago – my Mom enjoyed it so much. And then from there on it, it was views all the way! We drove along the scenic routes all the way – and what scenery. We would drive through windswept plateaus that reminded me of the West Coast of the Cape, with the scraggly fynbos, and then suddenly, down a gorge clad with indigenous forest and then up onto a cliff with views of the sea - and what sea! The colours were amazing, especially when the sun shone. The high cliffs above blue, blue bays and different coloured sands were as beautiful as anything I saw on the Mediterranean coastline.
We drove around a number of bays - one was Tauranga Bay, which was special for us and the huge Doubtless Bay gave us amazing views of different beaches. Then we drove around the Karikari peninsula - every beach just seemed more amazing.
I'm going to let the pictures do the rest of the talking - Pete took a millions pics today, I think.
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