Cape Reinga

This is going to be a photo heavy post (and apparently a word heavy one as well!) so just to warn you that you might want a cup of tea to read with this one…

Friday had arrived and brought with it the tour I was most excited about. This was the day we’d be driving to the top of the North Island, to visit Cape Reinga. I could not wait! 

The day started a little earlier than we all liked (6:30am alarms) and introduced us to the only thing we ended up disliking about our hostel: the cold experience of the showers.

The showers weren’t technically outside but they were at the back of the building, and all of the windows were kept open all of the time. You had to go outside to reach them. Thankfully I never experienced temperamental water temperature but Tom was saying that when he showered, the water would change from boiling hot to boiling cold with no warning. This was less than ideal, especially when the bathrooms were already freezing cold anyway. It was painful having to turn the warm water off and face the cold air in order to get dry! 

We were somehow all ready on time. The bus picked us up outside our hostel at 7:15am. We actually tried to get on the wrong bus initially, but after the driver couldn’t find our names (cue panic) he told us we were probably on the next bus to come along.

I was veeeery happy to see that the next bus was a lot nicer than the last one. Comfier seats and we were given our lunch vouchers as well! Tom thinks the guy asking us what we were having for lunch felt plain embarrassed when he had to give the second option, the salad. “Why would anyone choose a salad over fish and chips? You can tell he thought it was a stupid question.” The comfort/quality of our trip was further solidified by the amount of old people we picked up over the next couple of stops. That’s my new gauge on the comfort of a trip. (For adventure/excitement, you need to look for trips that don’t really have people over 30 on them). 

Our bus driver was great. She was so enthusiastic and bubbly, her cheerfulness spread through the bus whenever she spoke. She made all the historical stories interesting and even peppered the journey with her own personal anecdotes. Most of these were funny stories and it made the journey so much better to have that entertainment during it!

Our first stop was Puketi Kauri Forest. It wasn’t a long stop but we had enough time to do a 15 minute loop in amongst the trees. We saw a collection of kauri trees. We learnt on the drive over there that these trees are native to New Zealand, and that it is illegal to cut them down. Apparently kauri forests are among the most ancient in the world. The trees that we saw had stretched right up to the top of the forest canopy and looked so pretty as the sunlight shone down through the leaves. 

We drove on to Taipa. There was a little restaurant that looked out over the beach and we stopped there for coffees. Even that place had soy milk! I swear I’m going to come back to the UK spoilt by all this soy milk availability.

The stop we were most excited for came about 45 minutes later: the lunch stop. We were craving fish and chips. We’d only been out of the UK for less than 2 weeks and we were already impatiently waiting the chance to have some British food. 

The food, while delicious, wasn’t quite as British as Meryn was hoping. Possibly because it tasted healthier than the usual battered fish? Or possibly because the batter wasn’t batter-y enough, I’m not sure. I do know that there wasn’t a bit of food left once Tom had finished. Plus we could deal with the mild disappointment pretty well considering we were eating in such a beautiful spot.  

After that, we drove directly to Cape Reinga. I was so excited for this next bit of the trip I could barely sit still. I have wanted to visit this place since I first read about it! We had about an hour or so in the area, which turned out to be the perfect amount of time for a relaxed walk to the lighthouse and back.

The entrance to the walk is a small overpass with ancient Maori maps replicated on the walls. There was something playing pipe music as the breeze came through and it made an almost spiritual atmosphere as you walked out and saw the view from the top.

In Maori culture, Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Reinga) is the place where the spirits of the dead depart for the underworld. The place name means the “leaping off place of the spirits”. The spirits are supposed to leap off the mainland here, turn back briefly at the Three Kings Islands for one last glance at their home, before continuing their journey to Hawaiki, their traditional homeland. 

Walking towards the lighthouse, and looking out over the sea, I can definitely see how that place is considered the departing place for spirits. It really does feel like you’re at the tip of the world. The ocean stretches out before you and it’s just an incredible view. 

As well as being significant in Maori culture, Cape Reinga is also the meeting point of two oceans: the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Apparently you can see this meeting point as two slightly different coloured waters meeting. Tom and I could not see that and spent most of our time wondering if we were looking in the right place. I’ve since googled it and you’ll be pleased to know we were looking in the right direction, even if we weren’t entirely sure at the time. 

We had photos by the Cape Reinga lighthouse, and by the signpost that stands just behind it. There is apparently a similar signpost in Bluff, at the bottom of the south island so it’s my aim to make it down there and have a photo with that signpost as well!

From Cape Reinga, we drove towards 90 Mile Beach. To get there, we had to drive across the Te Paki Stream. I can’t quite explain how surreal it was to be on a bus driving over sand and water. It was so strange looking out of the windows and seeing sand! 

One part of the tour that was a surprise to us was the part that came next. It turned out that not only is there a thing called sand boarding, we were all about to try it on the huge sand dunes in front of us! 

Sand boarding was essentially surfing down the sand dunes while lying flat on a surf board. It was so much fun! The hardest part was definitely walking up the sand dunes. It was bloody difficult! We sand boarded from 3 different heights, going further up each time. This is a true testament to how much fun going down the sand was. I would not have been able to do that walk for something less enjoyable! 

The surreality of the journey continued after we all got back on the bus. We drove on from the dunes down the stream, and eventually came out onto 90 Mile Beach. The beach isn’t quite 90 miles (I think it’s 50 something?) but it was still a reaaaally long drive down it. 

I still can’t quite get over the site of a coach driving down a beach. It’s quite a common occurrence, with normal cars driving down there as well. Our driver was telling us that normal road rules apply there! We stopped quickly, giving us all enough time to dip our feet in the water, but not enough time that our coach sank into the sand! 

The coolest part of the journey was when we spotted a seal relaxing just outside of the water! A real life wild seal! 

We only had one more stop once we were back on the normal roads, the Ancient Kauri Kingdom. This was somewhere that dried kauri trees (who knew trees could take up to 15 years to dry?) once they had been dug up from the ground. Digging up old, remarkably well-preserved trees is the only way to harvest these trees anymore, since it’s become illegal to cut them down. The kauri trees are used to make furniture, souvenirs, and art pieces. 

It’s quite a cool place, and there’s a cafe there with food and drinks, but it was mainly just so that the bus could be washed after driving through the salt water. The most interesting thing there was the staircase made from half of the largest kauri trunk ever found. Half of it! And it was massive!! 

All that was left of the journey was a quick 45 minute drive back to Paihia. It was approaching 5:30pm and we were shattered. It’s surprising how tiring sitting down can be! 

Nothing much happened once we were back in the hostel. A pretty diabolical game of dominoes was played between the 5 of us (we spent our evening with Finn and Emily), where rules were apparently made up on the spot and we all basically won. We went on our standard nightly walk to the shop and then we all dropped gratefully into bed. 

What a day!!