Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Maitai Bay DOC Campsite
CAMPSITE $
(
www.doc.govt.nz
;
Maitai Bay Rd; sites per adult/child $10/5)
A large first-in, first-served
(no bookings) camping ground at the peninsula's most beautiful beach, with chemical
toilets, drinking water and cold showers.
Pepper's Carrington Resort
RESORT $$$
$$$
( 09-408 7222;
www.peppers.co.nz
; r from $245; )
There's something very
Australian-looking about this hilltop lodge with its wide verandahs and gum trees,
tempered by Maori and Pacific design in the spacious rooms and villas. The view over
the golf course to the dazzling white beach is exquisite.
SEED FOR THE FUTURE
The local Ngati Kuri, guardians of the sacred spaces around the Cape, have come
up with a unique way of funding reforestation. For $20 you can assuage your car-
bon guilt by planting a native tree or bush of your choice - or, if you don't want to
break a nail, letting the staff plant it for you; contact
Natives
(
09-409 8482;
TOP OF CHAPTER
Cape Reinga & Ninety Mile Beach
Maori consider Cape Reinga (Te Rerenga-Wairua) the jumping-off point for souls as they
depart on the journey to their spiritual homeland. That makes the Aupouri Peninsula a gi-
ant diving board, and it even resembles one - long and thin, it reaches 108km to form
NZ's northern extremity. On its west coast Ninety Mile Beach (Ninety Kilometre Beach
would be more accurate) is a continuous stretch lined with high sand dunes, flanked by
the Aupouri Forest.
Sights & Activities
Cape Reinga
LANDMARK
Standing at windswept
Cape Reinga Lighthouse
(a rolling 1km walk from the car park)
and looking out over the ocean engenders a real end-of-the-world feeling. This is where
the waters of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet, breaking together into waves up to
