Werahi Beach

The top part of Northland, because of its relative isolation, has limited WIFI connection and thus my blog was out of action for a couple of days. Here's an update. Our team departed the Orongo Holiday Park fairly early on the Saturday morning and headed north on the East Coast highway towards Cape Reinga. The drive from Russell was most enjoyable and picturesque. On either side heavily wooded forests literally came down to the edge of the road and gave us the impression we were driving along the bottom of a vast valley. Our destination was Waitiki Landing where we would stay for a couple of nights at a holiday park there. On the Sunday morning we headed up to Cape Reinga some 20 kilometres further north. Windswept Cape Reinga or Te Rerenga Wairua is quite an amazing sight. At this point the Tasman Sea separates from the West Pacific Ocean and Maori legend speaks of it as the jumping-off point for souls on their journey to their spiritual homeland. On its summit 165  metres above sea level stands a rather stubby white light house built in 1941, beaming its bright flashing light far out to sea. As Cyclone Pam, which had just trashed Vanuatu, was heading our way we decided to only do the short Te Paki  Coastal Walk to Werahi Beach. The track took us on a steep descent past sheer cliffs to the beach, which we walked along for some time, scrambling over coastal rocks and admiring the peach-coloured sand dunes and the bright green grasses growing upon them. By this time the wind had picked up considerably and the precipitation was quickly turning to rain. With a certain reluctance we left Werahi Beach, ascended the path back to Cape Reinga and headed for home.