Cape Reinga

Continued my journey North and eventually I arrived here, where Maori legends abound and the Tasman sea meets the Pacific Ocean and the two forces collide. The turbulence and whirlpools created by this represent the meeting of male and female and so also, the creation of life. But, with life there must inevitably come death and in one of the other pictures you can just see (if you put your specs on) a tree clinging tenaciously to the rock. The tree is named Te Aroha and it is from here that all spirits must make their way down the steps created by the tree roots, passing into the underworld and their spiritual home Hawalki.
This is also the starting point of the Te Araroa trail which, on reflection, would probably have been a better choice than the PCT, what a glorious place to start a tramp.