Te Paki is a biodiverse area, with different ecosystems containing many endemic plants and animals, some of them threatened. This unique variety is partly because Te Paki was once an island, separated from the rest of New Zealand, thus allowing species to develop in isolation.
Travelers most often pass through the area on the way to Cape Reinga, at the top of Northland’s Aupori Peninsula, but there are many other ways to experience the region. The Te Paki Coastal Track is just one of the walks possible here, taking 3-4 days. The Pandora Track and Rarawa Beach Walk are shorter options. Other visitors come to toboggan, body board, or sandboard down the dunes, some of which reach 500 feet (150 meters) high.
Unless you’re on a guided day trip to Cape Reinga from Kaitaia or the Bay of Islands, you’ll need your own vehicle to explore Te Paki. Drive north on State Highway 1 from Kaitaia.
Although Northland is known as the “winterless north,” that moniker only really makes sense if you don’t consider persistent rain to be a feature of winter. While Te Paki can be a year-round destination, be prepared for rain in winter. Summers are also very hot, so bring hats, sunscreen, and plenty of water, especially if you’re hiking.
Just south of Te Paki is the famous Ninety Mile Beach, a long beach with a misleading name as it’s actually only 58 miles long, closer to 90 kilometers. If you want to go sandboarding or bodyboarding on enormous sand dunes but can’t drive yourself to those in the Te Paki area, many tour operators run tours to Ninety Mile Beach.