The Cape Reinga Lighthouse
Cape Reinga
The Cape Reinga lighthouse is situated at the northwestern most tip of the North Island of NZ. It is a sacred place for the Maori who believe that the ape is the point where the spirit of the dead enter the underworld.
According to mythology, 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 old tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiiki-a-nui, using the Te Ara Wairua, the 'Spirits' pathway'
Source: Wikipedia
It is also the point where the Tasman sea meets the Pacific Ocean. One can see the tidal race where the 2 bodies of water meet.
90 Mile Beach
The 90 Mile beach is not 90 miles in length but 55 miles! Nevertheless, it is unique with a desert landscape, huge sand dunes, wild horses, plenty of birdlife and access to the beach only during low tide. We had great fun taking optical illusion pictures.
Another hole in the rock!
Tina has Giles in the palm of her hand. :)
I am dancing on mum's palm.
Sandboarding
It is an activity that is similar to snow boarding but it is carried out on sand dunes rather than snow covered mountains. We hiked up to the top of a giant sand dune (that was the hardest part) and then surfed down the dune on a boogie board.
Giant sand dunes
and we sand boarded down it.
Giles and me with our boards.
Waipoua Kauri Forest
This forest is the home of Tane Mahuta, the country's largest kauri tree, which is approximately 1200 years old and still growing. Tane Mahuta is rightly called 'The Lord of the Forest'. Another significant tree in Waipoua Forest is Te Matua Ngahere – 'Father of the Forest' – which is estimated to be 2000 years old.
Hugging the Lord of the Forest.
Ancient Kauri Kingdom
The ancient wood is found in swamps in the North of New Zealand and is carbon dated at more than 45,000 years old. It predates the migration of Neanderthal man and was already buried in swamps more than 25,000 years before the onset of the last Ice Age. Ancient Kauri is the oldest workable wood in the world. It is considered worldwide a valued heirloom connecting us by its beauty and ancient history.
The centrepiece of this shop is the staircase carved out of a single Kauri log. You can read more on the website - http://www.ancientkauri.co.nz/
The famous staircase.
Furniture carved out of 40000 year old Kauri swamp logs.
Tip: Do the tour with AwesomeNZ as they are simply awesome.http://www.awesomenz.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment
I do hope you have enjoyed what I have shared and will take the time to write back to me. I would really like to hear your thoughts, views, opinions about my blog posts. Sharing is caring. :)