90 Mile Beach

As part of the tour to Cape Reinga after we had gone to the sand dunes we continued through the river bed and then drove out onto 90 Mile Beach.  Now it is called that but it is only 68 km long which is only about 42 miles.  There are various stories as to why it was named that.  The most likely is that when it was measured it was done from the sea and there were curves and inlets and maybe they were all measured too.  Anyway, we come out on the beach right in the bus. We parked right on the beach and everyone got out and played in the water.  This photo is us loading the bus to leave but it is still what it looked like.

This is what it looked like as we drove towards it from the sand dunes.  This is the Tasman and I have never seen it when it was not rougher than what the Pacific is.  I loved the way the waves broke to both sides.

Here is Nate playing in the water.  It had a very strong current and when it cought you you were caught.  He ended up much wetter than the rest of us although we did manage to get the bottoms of our pants wet as well. 

Looking down to the south of the beach we were able to see the hole in the rock for this side of the island or bay.  Nearly every beach has their own hole in the rock.  

I thought it was pretty cool looking.  And to just prove that we were there here are a couple of photos!

When we were finished playing then the bus drove right down the beach until we got to the end.  It was nearly a two-hour trip.  We passed lots of people fishing.  She is using a VERY large reel that is in the water.  She is hoping for a big one. 

These others are just fishing off the rocks with regular rods and reels.  

We even saw a dead sand shark on the beach.