Cape Reinga

Each country I’ve traveled had one place I visited that became my favorite. It wasn’t a place I lived, I might have only seen it once, but it was always a beautiful place that made an impact on me. In Japan it was the mountain I climbed during fall break in the city of Nara (it was a small mountain that only took part of an afternoon to climb). In Austria, it was the sleepy little riverside town of Krems an der Donau, which I visited on a day trip. In New Zealand, it’s Cape Reinga. I’ll take moment now to add a disclaimer that I still have a lot of the country to see, but so far this place is undoubtedly top of the list J

So Cape Reinga, what’s that? Well, it’s the tip of the North Island (so it also happens to be the northernmost part of the country). 

It is where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. 

It is a place where when I climbed the hill that is just above the lighthouse I felt as if I was completely on top of the world as I tried to take in the breathtaking view. 

Perhaps most importantly, it is a spiritual place for New Zealand. “Reinga” is the Maori word for underworld. The cape is believed to be the place where the spirits of the dead depart to the underworld. The cape was part of a one day bus tour I booked, and our driver had explained the significance of this place as we approached. He said that it did not matter whether you were religious or not, visiting the Cape always left you feeling calm and peaceful.  As I got off the bus and followed the trail down to the lighthouse, I found his words to be true. There was something that made you want to let your cares go for the moment and simply live in the moment. I could ramble on for quite some time about the beauty of the place and how I could have stayed there to explore for hours, but instead I’ll let you look at the pictures because they say it better than I could J