Paihia - Taipa - Arhipara

After breakfast at a local cafe we packed up and checked out of the Austria Hotel. Only a few minutes out of town we stopped at Haruru Falls and walked a short way along the Waitangi Track. We carried on to Mangonui where we had lunch and wandered through town.

After lunch we drove to Ahipara, a very small town at the southern end of 90 Mile Beach. We stayed at the Ahipara Bay Beach Hotel where we enjoyed fantastic views of the beach. We rented two quads and ripped a few miles up 90 Mile Beach. The beach is amazing and considering it's summer holidays for kids, it was weirdly deserted.

Because it was Sunday, the only two restaurants in town were closed. We heated some tins of lamb stew in our kitchenette and ate it with slightly stale naan bread. While the cuisine wasn't great, the views made up for it.

We wandered down to the beach to watch the sunset and then called it a day.Læs mere