3 500g packets of spagetti
6 95g tins of flavoured tuna in oil.
6 boiled egges
6 pre cooked sausages
1 250g bag of salted cashew nuts
1 bag of cheap supermarket sweets
12 energy bars
1 bar of chocolate
2250ml of water
Cape reinga is listed as an optional stop on the kiwi experience guide which means I could go up on the bus and take the same bus back four days later. The drive to cape reinga goes along the famous 90 mile beach. Yes you can drive along this beach which is classed as a New Zealand highway. People have even been given speeding tickets. Due to the risk of losing your car to the sea in the middle of no-where, car insurence companies refuse to incude it on their cover. It is also worth pointing out that 90 mile beach is actually about 90km long. The reason for the name is the original pioneers driving their horses up the beach took three days to complete the journey. Common wisdom said a days travelling was 30 miles and the slowing effect of the sand was overlooked.
After turning off 90 mile beach and passing a delightful sign saying "danger increase speed", we arrived at our first stop of the day for some sand boarding te paki stream. Sand boarding involves taking a body board up a huge sand dune and the flying down it head first. Good fun and simple to master. Our next stop at cape Reinga was where I left the bus and took my tent to Twilight bay. This was the best campsite of the trip because you could watch the sunset on the sea. It also provides a a shelter, drinking water and toilet for free. The walk there takes you along beachs and through sand dunes.
I set aside the next day for recovering and enjoying the sea. I had spent the first two nights in spendid isolation and it was only on the third night I had the company of an old Kiwi tramper. I was awe stuck by the amount of food he was taking which included tomatoes, garlic and potatoes. My last night was spent at Tapotupotu so I could make the bus in time. I arrived early at cape Reinga to enjoy it before too many tourists arrived. According to Maori tradition this is where the souls of the dead travel on their way to the next world, climbing down the roots of a lone tree into the sea. Eating and drinking is banned at this sacred place as it can attract bad spirits. It was here I rejoined the bus and finished my adventure. My food had just about lasted me and I'd even managed to gain weight rather than lose it. 
So now we shall travel forwards in time to where I left the end of my last post. I met Paige (who had narrowly avoided being eaten by a tramp) at the base bar the following night. The Kiwi couple failed to turn up, maybe I'd scared them off with the Kiwi song. Luckily Paige had brought a couple of other friends she'd made including Irish Harriet and a cage fighter by the name of Shaun. We had an interesting night and I arranged to take the ferry to Russel the next day with Paige.
As Paige and I arrived in Russel we were shocked to discover it was rife with drinking, gambling, prostitution and dueling. Truely the hell hole of the pacific. Russel was the first settlement of New Zealand and also it's first capital. After lunch Paige departed to catch the bus back to Auckland. Luckily we'd bumped into Harriet by chance and had another hour of company. I then went on a walk around the coast and met some jet skiers who being thrill seeking friendly Kiwis gave me a few rides of the jet boat which was amazing. I finished my Russel trip with a sunset swim at Waitata Bay and a walk back to the boat with the song of the Kiwi birds all around me.
Back in Auckland I met up with Shaun before having a horribly long flight home the next day. It was nice ending my New Zealand trip with so many chance occurences as I'd expected my final days to be an anti climax.
