Oct 29- The Light House

I  found it impossible to sleep. My bed was not at all comfortable..Love the place but the bed sucks...
Seemed like no one slept well. What was cool, was sitting out in the dark and hearing the Kiwi's. They hunt in the dark for worms and they have the cutest sound. The area right next to the falls is a designated sanctuary.
So by 2 am it was decided that we would  see the light house by Sunrise, which sounded great.
The trip was long and not much to see in the dark but I made Rainer pull over so I could see the Southern sky in all it's glory..WOW!! The milkyway is just gorgeous and instead of the North Star to guide ships, they look for the Southern Cross. Couldn't find the big dipper, maybe it isn't visible from here ?
So we arrived just as the sun was coming up and this is what I saw as I walked to the walkway leading to the lighthouse.

Thats a close up folks. My first statement was "Your F--- kidding me right?". The light house was a tiny white speck in the distance...Over a mile walk straight down. It wasn't the walk down I was worried about.
My second statement was "I didn't come all this way NOT to make it" so off we went.

WooHoo!! We made it!! Rainers knee's aren't much better then mine. Of course the smiles you see are PRIOR to the walk back up. I noticed benches on the way down so I am sure I'll be making a few stops.
This is the place where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific meet.

The Maori have a story for everything. I kind of like this one. Note the signs are written in English and in Maori. It is a great help to people like me who are trying to learn the Maori language (it's very interesting. What can I say?)
This is not really the Northern most tip, there are cliffs that extend out further, but this is the end of the world to some.

That point is where the departed spirits of the Maori leave this world and return to their spiritual home.If you look closely (left side rocky point, right side of that point) you will see a tree. That also has a story.

There was so much to see and read about and to be honest I was stalling for time LOL I really wasn't looking forward to the trek back up that mountain. How do you like these directions?

Okay, I stalled long enough...it was time for the walk back up. Deep breath and onward I go.

Oh , look who pooped out first <grin> pic of light house for reference .

And it's getting smaller, which means I'm headed in the right direction.

It was impossible to get a view of the entire pathway because of the switchbacks. YOu can see some of it in the foreground and some leading down toward another switchback, but I'm sure you get the idea. It was a very, very long walk up hill and it wasn't over when I took this picture.

Let me not pass up the beautiful pictures to the other side of the walk way. NO matter where you look, there is something beautiful to see. The trip was a long way from the motel where another night was booked so we can visit a Marae ( Maori Meeting area) in the morning before heading home....
On the way home from the lighthouse we will stop at KeriKeri and some other interesting spots...but nothing compared to the Light House. See you later.......