Cape Reinga - The Top of the Island...sort of

Cape Reinga is the northernmost point of the North Island…almost. Turns out that the Surville Cliffs 30 km away is actually the northernmost tip by a hair - a detail we've chosen to ignore since we didn't find that out until we had already driven 20 km of desolate gravel road and hiked all the way down to the lighthouse at Cape Reinga. Details schmetails.

However, the Cape is significant for more than its latitude. The Maori revere it for its spiritual significance as the departure point for spirits headed to their ancestral home. Signs along the path even ask visitors to respect the spirit of the place by refraining from eating and drinking along the path. So after I read the first sign 500 meters down the path, I wolfed down my sandwich and L&P soda like a good tourist. We dug the view at the tip of the Cape where two oceans meet – the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The churning white froth and waves offshore look like waves hitting a long underwater reef, but it’s just the collision of the two bodies of water. It’s weird to actually see that oceans have separate currents and directions, and they’re not just one big blob of water. The collision is so vivid here that it inspired Maori myths about the Male and Female halves of the ocean meeting in a violent concussion of creation. I just thought it looked like good surf.

Destination Guide: Cape Reinga by Shawn Forno Famous Cape Reinga draws over one hundred thousand visitors each year to this far flung northwestern most tip of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated just three kilometers south of the actual northernmost tip of the island – located at the Surville Cliffs...read more

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