After driving about 5 hours the night before and camping nearby, I woke up bright and early to catch the sunrise at Cape Reinga. Maori call this cape Te Rerenga Wairua or "the leaping off place of spirits" because this is where the spirits of the dead leave Aotearoa and travel back to their spiritual homeland Hawaiki. The cape is also siginificant because it is where the currents of two oceans meet and you can sort of observe this from the viewpoint.
Normally the area is crawling with tourists, but at this early in the morning, I only had to share the space with two photographers. It was super windy and the air was so salty it felt sticky. The lighthouse was kind of pretty but felt out of place in such a rugged environment.
Next up was the Giant Sand Dunes. A popular activity here is sand boarding, but I didn't have a board so I just hiked up and then back down. I've seen sand dunes before, and though these were impressively large, the wind was getting stronger and pelting me with sand so I moved on quickly.
Just a few other pictures from my car:
I also visited the largest living kauri tree. The tree is called Tane Mahuta by Maori which is also the name of the atua (god) of forests and birds. Tane is a central figure in Maori creation stories. Here's an article about one version of the story: https://media.newzealand.com/en/story-ideas/tane-mahuta-separator-of-heaven-and-earth/
While I was there, a group of Maori people from Rotorua were also visiting. They said a few words in Te Reo about the tree then sang a few songs. Most of the international visitors didn't really know how to conduct themselves and just swiveled their selfie sticks around to record the beautiful song, almost like they were an "attraction" too. After they finished, one person explained a bit about why they were singing and said they were here to see the tree just like everyone else, but had a deeper connection with it because it was a significant piece of their culture. Anyway, it was cool to share that moment with Maori people and get a better understanding of the tree's importance to the people of NZ.
After this, I made my way back to Auckland. I will not miss the extremely windy roads but it will be tough to go back to the bland freeways of the US. Even the views from the highways are spectacular in NZ!