Maori Spiritual Home of Cape Reinga

Blog 11:  North Island New Zealand - To the lighthouse at Cape Reinga

Spent the morning in our overnight B&B town of Kaitaia with Sally Subaru (rent a dent!) at the garage having her washers worked on and another repair job to the rear window. Unable to repair the runner inside the door so we have one rear door out of action and a wonky window but Sally has a good engine so away we go! We travelled North in the early afternoon through some lovely scenery on route to the very Northern tip of NZ. An hour and a bit later we arrived at the Maori's sacred spiritual lands around the light house at Cape Reinga.

(PIC) - meeting of creation....

(PIC) - Tasman Sea and Pacific ....

This is where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. According to Maori legend, male ocean is meeting female sea and the coming together equals the creation of life (interesting!).  Many hundreds of years ago this is what the Ancestors would have seen as they approached this land in their waka (canoe) after many months at sea...

(PIC) - The Kahika Tree on the rock...

According to tradition, the peoples return via this point to their homelands after death, although the Maori does not mention death but rather "the end of a journey". This is that exact point on the their travels where their spirit leaves the land to return home to Hawaiki, their mystical original home before travelling across the Pacific to Aotearoa  (The tree you can see in the picture is the ancient Kahika Tree named 'Te Aroha' standing proud from the large rock. This tree never flowers and endures harsh environmental conditions but has still remained alive exactly in this position for 800 years. The tree roots by legend are the steps that the spirit of the loved one takes down to the water to travel home.

"Te waiora a tane" (waters of life)... There are two still active underground springs here; the spirit must drink this water to carry on their journey, failing to do so means they must return to the land of the living. 'Te Reinga' - the spirit enters the sea.  Te-Waiora-a-Tane bore much of the same relation to the Maori as the waters of Jordan bear to the Christian rites of baptism.

It is interesting these underground streams were once active above ground pouring out of the cliff into the sea below. The stream the Europeans settlers intended to use for their water supply when the lighthouse project was first proposed. A large reservoir was built to take the stream water, set into the hill beside the track leading down to the lighthouse. It is still there to be seen, but that is all. It is still empty, never used, for no sooner was the work finished than the little stream, Te Waiora-a-Tane, disappeared magically underground, and did not emerge until it reached the safety of the sea, where it still bubbles forth today in a clear spring at low-tide mark.

(PIC insert) - Sandy Bay......

Whales often swim into Sandy Bay near here to scratch on the rocks. Whales are in Maori cosmology the descendants of Tangaroa, the god of the oceans. They were thought of in awe, as supernatural beings, and often deemed tapu, or sacred. It is said that they can hear the spirit of the passing chatter or sing, and are showing them the way back to their ancestral home far away out away in the distant oceans. 

Now, you just have to be here to feel this spiritual place  - At times, although it is isolated and to some a desolate place I so feel an inner peace here. The ocean meeting the sea to create new life but is only a mere turn of the head away from the tree roots that takes the spirit of the departed back home again. There are many travellers and visitors coming to New Zealand that do not reach this Northern point, stopping short to ride their vehicle or book a coach trip on the sand that is the tourist attraction called 90 mile beach stretching south down the west coast. Not to come that extra mile to this magical place can only mean missing out on something very special and inspiring to the soul which somehow manages to put life into its true meaning and prospective.

(PIC) - Lighthouse at Reinga....

There has been a new lighthouse here now since 1941. It is fully automated and unmanned.  The beacon is powered by batteries that are recharged by solar cells. The beacon flashes every 12 seconds and can be seen for 19 nautical miles (35 km). A modern flashing light looks out to sea to warn the sailors of danger.  I wonder if they know what legends, traditions and spirits are on those shores and in the sea around them. I left with an inner freshness and peace marvelling at the simplicity of life from creation until the passing away to another place. Why do we make our lives so complicated?

(PIC) - The views over 90mile beach....

We travelled south back down the same and only road, stopping to admire some views of the sea over the 90 mile beach. We were heading for the ancient Kauri forests where the 'gum diggers' applied their hard graft manual trade over a century ago. Kauri (pronounced "kah-oo-ree") is the indigenous tree which is absolutely huge in height and girth with many magical properties. For centuries the Kauri gave the country and its people, work, housing, trading potential, ornaments and, for the lucky few, wealth. This tree is also home to a fantastic array of wild life and flora and fauna species many only ever seen in this small part of New Zealand...

This is a fantastic story in itself so keep tuning in to get blog 12.

DKT