A Mythical Journey

The area comprising New Zealand's northernmost point, Cape Reinga, is shrouded in Maori myth. According to Maori legend, the great curve of Ninety Mile Beach traces the route taken by the dead on their journey to the homeland of Hawaiki. Their final departure point is said to be at the tip of Cape Reinga.

Here we are again - we've been busy over the last couple of days with boat, bus and car trips and are now on the Coromandel Peninsula in Whitianga. We have seen some awesome sights and have been on tours that have explained Maori traditions, New Zealand geology and Kiwi history.

The tour to Cape Reinga was informative with an early stop to see a Kauri tree that is over one thousand years old. From there we made our way up to Cape Reinga. Unfortunately it was foggy (reminiscent of San Francisco) and we couldn't see much but the tour was fantastic as the tour guide had so much knowledge about Maori culture and history.

After we left Cape Reinga, we drove along a river bed (in a 60 seater coach) to 90 Mile Beach. The beach is an unmaintained highway. It was odd sitting on a bus driving on a beach for 60 miles (90 Mile Beach is actually only 60 miles) legally.

On the journey we had the opportunity to stop and see Motupia Island, a pierced rock that according to Maori mythology is the anchor stone of the great god Maui, who fished up the North Island.

The following day we drove to the west coast of the Northland through the spectacular Waipoua Forest to see the oldest Kauri tree in the world, Tane Mahuta, "The Lord of the Forest", which is over 1500 years old and 160 feet tall. It was pouring rain when we stopped. We waited over and hour for the rain to subside but it never did so we got soaked to the skin on our walk into the forest. Later, when we stopped in Dargaville for the night, we learned that the Waipoua Forest is actually a rain forest and we could have waited there days for the rain to stop - we would still be there now!

Wednesday, we drove from Dargaville to Whitianga and experienced rugged west coast, rainforest, inland fertile valleys, the city of Auckland, lush farmlands, spectacular coastline,marines and fishing villages all in one day.

We plan to chill out in Whitianga for a couple of days - we would love to hear from you through either through our blog or directly via our Gmail accounts.

Here is the link to our ever expanding photo gallery:

http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/gallery/users/usroyal/

Simply cut and paste into your browser to see more pictures of our excellent adventure!