Top of the North, Cape Reinga, Mystery and Legend, the meeting of two oceans

There is a sense of mystery about Cape Reinga something a touch unique and unexplainable. It’s not quite the very top of the North Island of New Zealand as that claim is reserved for Surville Cliffs at North Cape - it is however the biggest drawcard for visitors to this remote and isolated coastline. The day I visited a haze lingered out across the headland and the wind raged mercilessly in powerful gusts. This did not do anything though to distract from the exquisite beauty of the weathered scenery. The rolling hills and vast sand dunes flowed downwards to the untouched beaches beneath. At Cape Reinga two oceans majestically collide as the Pacific and Tasman meet in a monstrous roar of wave and foam.  As I made my way down the meandering pathway I spotted a gnarly old Pohutukawa tree. Precariously perched on jutting rock overhanging the sea it was somehow clinging to life on this weather beaten cliffside. Maori legend tells that this is the point at which the spirits of the dead begin their final journey into the underworld to return to their ancestral homeland, Hawaiki. Their spirits leaping down off the tree into the depths of the unforgiving ocean below.

Up above on the headland stood Cape Reinga Lighthouse built back in 1941. It still provides a continuous beaming beacon of light as warning to any passing ship. Not far from the lighthouse was one of the most photographed sign-posts in New Zealand. Yellow pointed arrows indicate the direction of the South Pole in 3,840 miles and London 9,735 miles. Never mind London, I sensed I was a long way from just about anywhere. With the exception of the lighthouse and signpost the only other man made creations within a considerable distance were the car park and toilet/information block.  There was nothing else but endless ocean and resplendent scenery and I could truly believe I was at the end of this world, a sacred place where it was indeed possible that spirits could leap.