Cape Reinga

So talk to me about Te Araroa.

And I'm really curious about the fact that you did Te Araroa, which is walking from Cape Reinga to Bluff, and you also did Tua Ao Te Roa, which is cycling, and you did them pretty much back to back.

Is that right?

Yes.

Anyways, you know what? Like I said, there's so many places that we need to go and explore.

Any other ones on your book there that we need to kind of go? So we can go down to Hobbiton, maybe Mount Ruapehu, then up to Cape Reinga.

I've also never been to the caves.

You haven't been to Queenstown either.

We struggle from the people land in Auckland and then they tend to go south.

When in actual fact, what we have up here, and you combine it with a trip to Northland and further north to Cape Reinga and so on, we have outstanding tourist activities, poor nights.

Our own Hontavas are the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere, so Yeah, it is difficult, but it's certainly something we're working on, Jesse.

I read somewhere that they're not getting as many people at the 100 faster as they thought they were going to or as they targeted.

Back in New Zealand on a plane, the first scene, you know the safety videos we all watch, the first scene on the safety video really struck me.

It was New Zealand's northernmost lighthouse, Cape Reinga.

Then in Australia, driving in the Sunshine Coast, we unexpectedly came across a lighthouse we had no idea existed.

It's the one on the left.

traveling south towards new zealand yeah we're

literally due north of cape reinga actually at the time um so we got on the radio to passage guardian and we said we're in trouble uh we are going to try and secure the engine but we knew that we were coming into some really bad conditions coming back into new zealand not really bad it was going to be 30 around 30 knot winds and there was a swell of around sort of three meters forecast which is reasonably spicy so it's not a it's not it's enough to make it quite full on So, yeah, we got in touch and they said, look, we think there's another boat nearby.

You need to give them a radio and see if they'll come to your aid.

And they did.

playlist.

From the tip of Cape Reinga down to the dirty deep south of Bluff, no town is safe.

This is your postcode playlist.

It was big news this week.

Postcode playlist.

Postcode playlist.

From the tip of Cape Reinga down to the dirty deep south of Bluff, no town is safe.

This is your postcode

This collection of conversations from my journey became Te Araroa Tales.

In today's episode, I'm talking to Tau Poapata, who lives in Kaitaia and runs a shuttle service to Cape Reinga, where the Te Araroa Trail begins.

The cape is the northernmost tip of New Zealand, and it's one of the most sacred places in the country for Māori, where the spirits of the dead begin their journey to their ancestral homeland.

It's a fitting place to begin a 3,000-kilometer walk, especially for those who might be looking for something more than a trial of physical endurance.

Each season, Tal shuttles hundreds of walkers from all over the world to the start of the trail.

Many have been in New Zealand for barely 24 hours before they begin walking.

So on the drive, she shares some essential trail etiquette for Cape Reinga, like holding off on food and drink, and treating the sacred site with care and respect.

'Cause at the start I used to feel responsible [laughs] for the hikers when I dropped them off and leaving them there, 'cause it's my home.