Northlands - Day 6: Where the spirits take off for the underworld and we take off down some giant dunes

It feels a bit like slogging through our blogging, but - we did want to post details about our trip through the Northlands - it really was so great. So, we are picking up back at Avalon, that place the kids loved. We couldn't really get enough of feeding our kitchen and table scraps to the farm animals.

We were especially surprised to see the goats head butting the pigs to get to the food first. Do you remember how large those pigs are? And one of them is pregnant! We now have a better understanding of why sheep go to heaven, while goats....

This was our little cottage

We drove up the coast to the northernmost point of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. This is a cool spot and also culturally important. The name comes from a Maori belief that this is the spot where dead spirits enter the underworld.

We saw the most tourists we had ever encountered together in a single place in New Zealand. I was really surprised by this, because the cape is really far away from everything else.

There are lots of little track we walked around as we explored a bit. We ran into DOC workers (Department of Conservation) who were checking possum traps. There aren't any mammals indigenous to this island. Those that have been introduced, like the possum, wreak havoc on the ecosystem. It seems like a large part of what conservationists do in New Zealand is try to control populations of non-native organisms.

Yes, even as touristy as it was, not many folks strayed from the main viewing areas, so that the little walks were pretty private.

The lighthouse was built in 1941 and had lighthouse keeper until 1987, when it was fully automated.

This is the place where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. Here's a photo of the ensuing clash of tides.

We are headed to the largest sand dunes I've ever seen, on Ninety Mile Beach. On our way, we catch a glimpse beyond the trees of what lies ahead....

Here we are, equipped with our very own boogie board, which we've been told is all we need to slide down the dunes like sledding -- Wheeee!!!

Turns out, our board doesn't work well, so we rent one from the man who sits in the parking lot with his van and about 700 boogie boards.

--and we're off! This is the view from the top of the dune - and yes, Tom, the boys, and I took turns climbing up this massive hill and sliding down super fast. It's actually as high up as this photo makes it look. Higher, even.

From the top, you'd expect to be able to see the ocean, but mostly what you see is more sand.

Once we felt more confident, we did try to "surf" down the dunes. You get less sand in your mouth this way. This was a much smaller dune. I would not have done this from the other one.

Aidan got pretty good at this.

Both boys took this opportunity to play in the largest sand box in the world.