To Land's End in the Car from Hell, March 31

Cape Reinga


Time is short. Linda and Brad say we must see Cape Reinga. There's something special about that place. Our rental 2002 white Nissan Bluebird is acting a strangely. The transmission seems to stick, often in a high gear. In a land where everything is either uphill or downhill, downhill is fine but going uphill gets slower and slower. Trusting that the car will last two more days on the road, we go for it. We're not going to let a car keep us from seeing that place. So from Paihia we drive north up to the remote and beautiful Cape.

Getting there is not too bad. We make it OK to the end of the "90-mile beach." After the busload of tourists leave, and a group of bicyclists on a fund-raising trip cycle back south, peace and serenity envelop us as we look in all directions. The blue waters of the Tasman Sea on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east mix in confusion just off the point. We look south at the beautiful beach where we imagine Maori spirits walking toward us. Then along the coast just to the right of the lighthouse, there is a lone 800-year-old tree which has never flowered. Legend says Maori spirits slip down this tree by two springs. One spring cleanses before the spirits proceed on to their homeland; if a spirit drinks from the other spring, it returns to the living world. We observe the custom not eating or drinking there then quietly return south to the car and the real world.

But returning is not so easy. The car really starts having problems climbing hills, we creep up to the crests then accelerate down to get enough momentum to keep going. It seems we're being pulled backward. About halfway back, Henry stops to call the car rental agency. They assure him the car's just fine and offer no assistance without a mechanic's say-so. No, there's no mechanic nearby. So, we hope and continue, finding the least hilly route, finally getting back to Paihia for overnight. Then we manage to get to Auckland the next day. At the car agency, they offer to drive us in the same car to our hotel which is on top of one of Auckland's volcanoes. We turn up the hill and the car refuses to go any farther. We get out and walk the three blocks with our luggage to the hotel, happy to be out of that car at last, but also happy to have made it to Cape Reinga.

Tiri Tiri Matangi, Saturday, April 2

Greg, the Takahe, on Tiri

Our last day in New Zealand, we think about what would be a fitting end to this month-long trip. We're back in Auckland, without a car rental, and we wake up early to a blue sky. We decide to make the trip to Tiri Tiri Matangi Open Sanctuary and to take a volunteer-guided walking tour.

The boat departs from downtown pier 4. Everyone checks their packs and shoes to be sure they are clean. No hitchhiking alien seeds or mammals are welcome on the island. The fast catamaran takes about an hour and a half to reach the island. Along the way there are a few little blue penguins on the water. When we arrive, there is a ray under the dock.

Tiri Tiri Matangi (Maori for "looking to the wind") is one of the New Zealand islands which are being actively managed to ensure that native plants and birds survive. The island is open to the public, a source of concern. The Department of Conservation does not wait for natural regeneration of native systems. Harmful introduced species are killed. Many volunteers seed, weed, and then release endangered birds. Thanks to the endless hours of continuing work by school children and sanctuary afficionados, "Tiri" looks very different from its recent agrarian past. Newly restored native habitats and the birds are thriving. Much work remains to be done.

Many of New Zealand's native birds are threatened. Before colonization, these birds had few predators. After contact, birds' eggs and the young birds were easy prey for mice, rats, possums (an Australian marsupial), and others. Now in the island sanctuaries populations of these endemic species are rebounding. We see some birds in the brush with the help of our experienced guide, Alison. There are juvenile saddlebacks scrabbling in the duff, whiteheads looking for insects within reach, a single napping brown teal, a secretive North Island robin, melodious bellbirds, fancy fantails in the shade, a red-crowned parakeet on a sunny branch, a secretive North Island robin, assertive honey-eating tuis, and big, bold takahes.

Takahe birds (Porphyrio mantelli) are special. Once thought to be extinct, they were rediscovered in 1948 in Fjordland National Park. They now number about 200 individuals. Ground dwellers, their reproduction rate is low and predation (eggs and chicks) is high. Old Greg (pictured) hangs around the Tiri dock area in plain sight.

Back in Auckland, after a day in the sunshine and forest shadows, we talk about the day in a local pub on the way back to the Quadrant Hotel at the top of one of Auckland's five volcano cones. Tiri Tiri Matangi is the last and one of our best New Zealand times.