The Northern tip of the North island
Our trip goes further north to the very north tip of New Zealand. A graveled road leads us over 16 km through green hills down to Kapowairua (Spirits Bay), which is located in the northernmost area of New Zealand on the small, narrow Aupouri Peninsula, north of Kaitaia. What a spot !!! Just before Cape Reinga we hang a right on a dirt road and descend into Taputaputa, where the DOC campground offers us a spot right on the beach of a stunningly beautiful halfmoon bay.
We feel as close to nature as it could be. We have a picnic next to the beach and enjoy the sunset in our sleeping bags outside.
Later at night, the universe blinks down on us with an uncounted number of stars.The next morning we are welcomed by a beautiful clean swell rolling into the bay for some style rides on our surfboards and boogie boards.
Cape Reinga is a place of great spiritual meaning to Maori. They believe it is “the place of the leaping”, where the souls of the dead gather before they enter the next world. According to Maori traditions the spirits of the departed leap from an 800-year-old pohutukawa tree on the windswept cape to begin the voyage back to their final resting place in the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki.
Spirit Bay
Next to the beautiful Spirits Bay is the lighthouse, where the waves of the Tasman Sea float into the Pacific Ocean. It is said, that this is the reunion of the male and the female energies.
Cape Reinga lighthouse
And then there is the cliff with the lone tree which the souls hang onto before descending into the sea.
the tip of Cape Reinga
Categories: New Zealand