Cape Reinga, officially Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua, is the northwestern most tip of the Aupōuri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. Cape Reinga is more than 100 km north of the nearest small town of Kaitaia.

In Māori, means the leaping-off place of spirits. is the Māori word for underworld. Both refer to the Māori belief that the cape is the point where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld.

Cape Reinga is a popular tourist site, with annual visitor numbers estimated at over 500,000 people. Visitor numbers are growing by about five percent a year, and the increase is likely to become even more now that the road to the cape is fully sealed. Suitable vehicles can also travel much of the way via Ninety Mile Beach and Kauaeparāoa Stream / Te Paki Stream stream bed.

The cape is also the northern terminus of the Te Araroa hiking trail.

Māori mythology

According to mythology, the spirits of the dead travel to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland and climb the roots of the 800-year-old pōhutukawa tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiki, using the Te Ara Wairua, the 'Spirits' pathway'. At Cape Reinga they depart the mainland. They turn briefly at the Three Kings Islands for one last look back towards the land, then continue on their journey. In March 2009, the works on the visitor facilities were completed.

Climate

Cape Reinga has a very mild oceanic climate (Cfb) with high precipitation and little temperature difference between the seasons.

Lighthouse

The lighthouse at Cape Reinga was built in 1941 and first lit during May of that year, replacing a lighthouse located on nearby Motuopao Island, which had been built 1879. In 1987, the lighthouse was fully automated and the lighthouse keepers were withdrawn. The previous 1000 watt light and its revolving Fresnel lens have since been replaced with a tiny 50 watt flashing beacon, lodged in their place in the huge lantern.

Notes

References

  • Cape Reinga (from the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) website)
  • Cape Reinga (from Eske Family Trust website, see the Maori Mythology explanation)