To the Tip Top

After our beautiful day at Spirit Bay, we headed out in the morning to Cape Reinga, the most Northern part of New Zealand. At this point, there is a light house and is where you can see the waves of the Tasman sea crash into those of the Pacific Ocean. This is also where Maori believe souls leave the world to enter the afterworld or as they would phrase it there "spiritual homeland." As Liz and I walked from the car park up to the cape, you could see how the Maori came to find this place so majestic and spiritual. As you looked out, all you could see was ocean, for what seemed forever. and Although you couldn't really place the crashing waves of the two seas colliding, it was a beautiful scene.
The scene that I found more majestic though was a 800 year old Pohutukawa tree, just east of Cape Reinga and that lighthouse. The tree stood alone in the distance jutting out of what seemed to be solid rock as the waves crashed into it, and many times over the tree. The first picture (not taken by me as I am on a public computer and we haven't figured out how to put our own pictures up...check facebook for those!) is of the cape as a whole. On the left you can see the lighthouse and the rocks jetting out on the left is where this beautiful and strong Pohutukawa tree stands.

This is a bit of a closer image of the tree. You can see how little vegetation is around the tree and how powerful the tree is to survive 800 years facing such a harsh climate and salt filled air.

Maori believe that this tree is where souls leave the cape, travel to this tree and down its roots to another spiritual world. It truly is a powerful scene and the simple idea that this tree has survived over 800 years is absolutely amazing. Cape Reinga is one of the most sacred and spiritual places for the Maori and it is very easy to see why.

 

 

After leaving such a special spot, and the farthest north we could travel, we started our journey back South soon to discover another very spiritual spot in the Waipoua Forest. After reading about the forest in our trusty Lonely Planet guide, there were two things that Liz and I both agreed seemed worth the treks. One was to Tane Mahuta, the largest kauri alive. And the other was to the Four Sisters, four tall kauri trees that all fused together at the base.

Tane Mahuta is named for the Maori forest God and is believed to come from the Sky Father, Ranginui, and Mother Earth, Papatuanuku. Tane Mahuta is believed to have stemed from a seed over 2000 years ago although it is difficult to fully tell the age. What is believed by the Maori's is that Tane broke his parents (the sky and earth) apart to bring light, space and air and therefore allowing life to flourish.

What a tree!

 

After taking is the beauty and power of Tane Mahuta, we headed to the four sisters. Although the Four Sisters wasn't nearly as big as Tane Mahuta, it was just as beautiful. Seeing the four trunks come together in such a beautiful way was really a breath taking moment. Once we were able to snap some photos of the trees and take in all their glory, we headed back to our van and continued our exploration South.