Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Hillary Trail (
Click here
)
5
Kauaeranga Kauri Trail (
Click here
)
TOP OF CHAPTER
Te Paki Coastal Track
Duration
3 days
Distance
42.5km (26.4 miles)
Track Standard
Tramping track
Difficulty
Easy
Start
Te Paki Stream
End
Kapowairua
Nearest Town
Kaitaia (
Click here
)
Transport
Bus
Summary
A scenic tramp along the sweeping Te Paki coastline, encompassing coastal
forest, the semitropical sands of seven beaches, and iconic Cape Reinga (Te Rerenga
Wairua).
The top of NZ is a place pounded by the seas, whipped by winds and bathed in sunshine. It's
a wild and powerful place, where the strong and unforgiving currents of the Tasman Sea and
Pacific Ocean sweep along the shorelines, before meeting in a fury of foam just west of
Cape Reinga.
Providing trampers with a front-row seat to nature's beauty and drama here is Te Paki
Coastal Track, a meander between spectacular beaches, coastal forest, wetlands, towering
dunes and NZ's longest beach. Once described as a 'desert coast', Ninety Mile Beach is al-
most concrete-hard below the high-tide line - which makes for easy tramping - and is
bordered much of the way by sand dunes up to 6km wide and rising in places to 143m in
height. The tramp then climbs to Cape Reinga, site of the famous lighthouse, but also one of
the Maori's most sacred sites, before following clifftops and descending to idyllic, sandy
beaches.
