Our Drive to the Cape Reinga Lighthouse

Cape Reinga Lighthouse is one of New Zealand’s most iconic natural and cultural landmarks. It’s where an often visible clash of currents from the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean converge, often creating shifting lines and swirls in the water below. This natural phenomenon is both striking and symbolic. 

For us, the lighthouse provided an excellent day trip from Kaitia. When we arrived at the carpark, we struck a rain squall with a strong cold wind. However after a few minutes the weather cleared and the walk to the lighthouse was quite warm.

For Māori, this place is sacred. Known as Te Rerenga Wairua, it is believed to be the departure point for spirits returning to their ancestral homeland of Hawaiki. A lone Pōhutukawa tree on the cliffs is said to mark the spot where spirits descend into the ocean.  

The walk to the lighthouse is short and accessible. At the end, you are rewarded with expansive views over the coastline, lighthouse, and seas. It’s also a popular location for landscape photography, sunrise and sunset viewing, and taking a quiet moment at one of New Zealand’s northernmost points. 

To get there, we followed SH1 north along the narrow Aupōuri Peninsula for approximately 110 km The drive passes through remote forest and coastal scenery. There are no fuel stations, so we decided to fill up before leaving town. The entire route is sealed and is an easy drive. As it is not a major highway, there are many one-lane bridges with signs notifying drivers which direction has right of way.

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On our return trip, we popped into two interesting beaches – both of which were just a few kilometres off the highway.

Rarawa Beach, is about 45 minutes north of Kaitaia and is renowned for its stunning, powdery white silica sand that “squeaks” when you walk on other.. From a distance the beach looks like snow on the horizon as the sand on the beach is so white!

We also drove to the Ninety Mile Beach on the western side of the peninsula. The beach is actually only 88 kilometres long.but we didn’t travel on it to find out. The beach is officially a public highway and is sometimes used as an alternative to State Highway 1 north of Kaitaia,  Rental cars, like ours, are banned from driving on the beach by the rental companies.

The beach and the dunes at Te Paki in the north are another tourist destination. The Te Paki dunes, which look much like a desert landscape, are used for sandboarding.

In the days of sailing ships a number of vessels were wrecked on the beach. In 1932 the beach was used as the runway for some of the earliest airmail services between Australia and New Zealand.