Cape Reinga and the Waitakere Ranges

The last 2 days we pushed pedal to the metal on the camper van, which can go surprisingly fast, to get up through the rest of the Northlands region, down through the Waitakere Ranges west of Auckland, and rolled in to Port Waikato last night (Matamata, i.e. Hobbiton, you are so close!).

First we went to Cape Reinga, which is the northern most point you can visit on New Zealand. It was beautiful, and has a very significant stitch in the fabric of Maori culture. The insane wave patterns of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean colliding off the cape represent the creation of life, and the 800 year old tree at the tip of the rocky point (look reallll close in the first picture and you can see it) is where souls depart for the afterlife. We just appreciated a warm place to take an afternoon nap.  

Ninety Mile Beach in the distance

The next day, we spent the afternoon wandering the many walking tracks of the Waitakere Ranges' dramatic coastline, which we think is New Zealand's Big Sur (except with black sand). The highlight was definitely Karekare Beach (which was used for the opening sequence of the movie The Piano) - it was unlike any beach we had ever seen. Like most beaches in New Zealand so far, it seemed to go on forever with absolutely no one on it, had black sand that gave it an ominous appearance, and at least 8 rows of huge waves. Beautiful!