Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua Te Rerenga Wairua (Māori)
Cape
Cape Reinga
Coordinates:34°25′17″S172°40′47″E / 34.4214°S 172.6797°E /-34.4214; 172.6797
Location	Northland,New Zealand
Offshore water bodies	Tasman Sea

Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua (/ˈreɪŋə/; sometimes spelledRēinga,Māori:Te Rerenga Wairua)^[1] is the northwestern most tip of theAupōuri Peninsula, at the northern end of theNorth Island of New Zealand. Cape Reinga is more than 100 km north of the nearest small town ofKaitaia.

In Māori,Te Rerenga Wairua means theleaping-off place of spirits.^[2]Reinga is the Māori word forunderworld.^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Cape Reinga is generally considered the separation marker between theTasman Sea to the west and thePacific Ocean to the east. From the lighthouse it is possible to watch thetidal race, as the two seas clash to create unsettled waters just off the coast. Māori refer to this as the meeting ofTe Moana-a-Rehua, 'the sea of Rehua' withTe Tai-o-Whitirea, 'the sea of Whitirea', Rehua and Whitirea being a male and a female respectively.^[2]

The cape is often mistakenly thought of as being the northernmost point of the North Island, and thus, of mainland New Zealand. However,North Cape'sSurville Cliffs, 30 km east of Cape Reinga are 3 km further north. Another headland just to the west of Cape Reinga isCape Maria van Diemen, which was named by the Dutch explorerAbel Tasman during his journey in 1642 and thought of by him to be the northernmost point of the newly discovered country he named 'Staten Landt'.

Cape Reinga is more than 100 km north of the nearest small town ofKaitaia. State Highway 1 extends all the way to the cape, but until 2010 was unsealedgravel road for the last 19 km.^[6] Suitable vehicles can also travel much of the way viaNinety Mile Beach and Kauaeparāoa Stream / Te Paki Stream stream bed.

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

According tomythology, 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-oldpōhutukawa tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland ofHawaiki, using theTe Ara Wairua, the 'Spirits' pathway'. At Cape Reinga they depart the mainland. They turn briefly at theThree Kings Islands for one last look back towards the land, then continue on their journey.^[2]

A spring in the hillside,Te Waiora-a-Tāne (the 'Living waters of Tāne'), also played an important role in Māori ceremonial burials, representing a spiritual cleansing of the spirits, with water of the same name used in burial rites all over New Zealand. This significance lasted until the local population mostly converted to Christianity, and the spring was capped with a reservoir, with little protest from the mostly converted population of the area. However, the spring soon disappeared and only reappeared at the bottom of the cliff, making the reservoir useless.^[2]

In 2007 protests by Māori and increased tourist numbers led theDepartment of Conservation to announce that the public carpark and toilet facilities, which intrude on traditionally sacred ground, would be moved further away from the cape and extended, at a cost of NZ$6.5 million (for details, see external links below).^[6] The road to the cape, one of the last stretches of State Highway 1, was sealed following three years of work and include extensive roadside revegetation with over 150,000 plants to prevent erosion.^[5] In March 2009, the works on the visitor facilities were completed.^[7]

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

Thelighthouse at Cape Reinga was built in 1941 and first lit during May of that year, replacing a lighthouse located on nearbyMotuopao 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 revolvingFresnel lens have since been replaced with a tiny 50 watt flashing beacon, lodged in their place in the huge lantern.

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

• Far North District
• Headlands of the Northland Region
• State Highway 1 (New Zealand)

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