Elaine's Irish birthday we headed up to Cape Reinga via 90 Mile Beach (it's actually just over 55 miles ling, but it 55 Mile Beach doesn't have the same ring to it).

It was a great day, the drive up the beach was amazing (and fast), I got to go sandboarding down a giant dune (managed to scale the beast three times!) and we seen some massive kauri trees, some of which are over 2000 years old. We made it all the way up to Cape Reinga, which is the northern-most point of New Zealand, and the place from which Maori believe their spirits leave the earth. When they die their spirit goes on a journey up to Cape Reinga (or Te Rerenga Wairua in Māori, which means the jumping-off place of spirits) where their tears form a lake behind the main bluff. Then the spirit leaps of an ancient tree and return to the ancient ancestral home of Haiwiki.

It's really cool that the Māori have such tenable traditions, rituals and beliefs and stories, it makes you think about all the Irish legends and stories we learned in school and

Photos on Flickr

PS Apologies about the sound on the video…