Te Rerenga Wairua: The Leaping Place of the Spirit

Today we were chauffeured to the Ancient Kauri Kingdom Shop by 79 year old Tom who told us he was the founder of the Dune Rider Company whose bus he was taking us to meet. He had much of interest to tell us about the area and his company and then we had a look around the shop whilst waiting for other folks and the buses to arrive. Once on the road we called in at the Gum Diggers Park where we saw half a million dollars' worth of Kauri tree sitting in the swamp! We then drove on for lunch at a Maori community before heading to Cape Reinga.
This is a very important place for Maori. Its name Reinga means underworld. According to mythology the spirits of the dead travel here on their journey to the afterlife, after spending a night of rest at Spirits Bay close by. The spirits gather on the hill before leaping off the headland on to the branches of the 800 year old Pohutukawa Tree in my blip. From there they climb down the roots of the tree to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland Hawaiiki-a-nui. This is a special place to visit in many ways, it's free and there are no fridge magnets or assorted memorabilia to purchase and no food is allowed on the site, hence it is a very spiritual place and I found myself wishing to be an honorary Maori as well as an honorary Scot!
On leaving the cape we drove down the Te Paki stream in the bus which takes you on to Ninety Mile Beach. Half way down the stream we stopped to dune surf, woo hoo great fun! Then it was on to the beach and seventy kilometres of beach riding back to our camping ground. Another fantastic day!