![]() In 1772, Marion du Fresne anchored his sailing ship in Spirits Bay (Kapowairua) and landed in quest for fresh water. He was the first European to sight North Cape and was responsible for naming Cape Maria van Diemen in honour of the Governor of Batavia’s wife.Ĭaptain Cook and the French captain, Jean de Surveille sighted the north coast within a few days of each other in 1769. He named the islands after the biblical three wise men. Maori had occupied Northland hundreds of years before Abel Tasman sailed in for water to the Three Kings Islands on the eve of Epiphany 1643. Kupe established Te Rerenga Wairua as the point from which his descendants would travel in spirit form back to Hawaiiki-A-Nui. Many places Kupe named range from Te Ara Wairua (the spirits pathway) to Te Rerenga Wairua. Kupe’s crew, upon landing, settled from Cape Reinga to Parengarenga Harbour. In fact, he was travelling towards Mount Camel in Houhora. Kupe, known as the great navigator, is said to have discovered the Far North when he thought he was heading towards a whale. Forests, coasts and wetlands were abundant sources of food for hunting and gathering too. They could garden here with plants like taro, gourds, and yams. The Far North is the nearest in climate to the tropical home of the first Maori settlers. The spirits then travel underwater to the Three Kings Islands where they climb out onto Ohaua, the highest point of the islands and bid their last farewell before returning to the land of their ancestors, Hawaiiki-A-Nui.Įverywhere you look in the surrounding landscape of Te Rerenga Wairua, you can find evidence of human settlement, hundreds of years in the making. ![]() ![]() They descend into the underworld (reinga) by sliding down a root into the sea below. It is here that after death, all Māori spirits travel up the coast and over the wind-swept vista to the pohutukawa tree on the headland of Te Rerenga Wairua. For Māori, Cape Reinga is the most spiritually significant place in New Zealand.Īn ancient pohutukawa tree and a lonely lighthouse mark this special place. ![]()
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