We knew from our Getting Lost community that there were giant sand dunes at Te Paki but even with the word giant we weren’t prepared for just how huge they were.
It’s such an epic spot that even if you aren’t planning on surfing the dunes it’s worth going to check out, but if you are surfing the dunes here’s our top tips…
#1 Board hire
There are quite a few options when it comes to hiring boards. Unless you are bringing your own (we had no room in the car for ours!) you can hire them for $15 at the base of the dunes or you can pay $10 to hire them up the road. Advantage of hiring them earlier is obviously the cost but then you have to fit 5 sandy boards in the car for quite a while so we went for the $15 option. The other benefit with this option is you get a few tips and pointers from the guy in the shop at the bottom of the hill too.
#2 Don’t go on a windy day
Seems pretty self explanatory but sand blows around and this much sand blows even more! We went on a pretty calm and it was perfect but our middle child who has sensitive eyes still got a bit of sand in her eyes.
#3 Take water and pace yourself
The sand dunes are huge and part of going down is that you have to go up first!! They are huge so walk on a diagonal, pace yourself (there are lots of dunes) and take some water.
#4 Have a go
That means even you Mum’s and Dad’s who normally sit on the sideline. There are all sizes of dunes from huge ones for the bravest to small ones for the less brave!
Our eldest usually would be a bit scared in this situation and she was the first one to head down the dunes so if she can do it you can too!
#5 Avoid the bushes
The rules for the sand dunes are simple. Only do down sand dunes where there is a lip at the bottom and no obstacles. James hates rules. So he went down the biggest hill he could find – no lip, straight into the bush at the bottom. He was fine and quite possibly the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen. Kids got it on the Gopro so head on over to the Facebook page to check it out!
