North Cape, New Zealand

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North Cape, New Zealand

North Cape is located at the northern end of the North Auckland Peninsula

North Auckland Peninsula

The North Auckland Peninsula, frequently referred to simply as the Northland Peninsula, is located in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand....
in the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. The island is 113,729 square km in area, making it the List of islands by area....
of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
. It is the northeastern tip of the Aupouri Peninsula

Aupouri Peninsula

The Aupouri Peninsula is a tombolo at the northern tip of the North Island of New Zealand. It projects between the Tasman Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east....
and lies 30 km east of Cape Reinga

Cape Reinga

Cape Reinga is the northwesternmost tip of the Aupouri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. Cape Reinga is located over 100 km north of the nearest small town of Kaitaia....
. The name is sometimes used to refer just to the cape which is known in Maori

Maori language

Maori or te reo Maori, also commonly shortened to te reo , functions as one of the official languages of New Zealand. Linguists classify it within the Eastern Polynesian languages as closely related to Cook Islands Maori, Tuamotuan language and Tahitian language; somewhat less closely to Hawaiian language and Marquesan language; a...
as Otou and which overlooks Murimotu Island, and sometimes just to the eastern point of Murimotu Island.

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Encyclopedia

North Cape is located at the northern end of the North Auckland Peninsula

North Auckland Peninsula

The North Auckland Peninsula, frequently referred to simply as the Northland Peninsula, is located in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand....
in the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. The island is 113,729 square km in area, making it the List of islands by area....
of New Zealand

New Zealand

Aupouri Peninsula

Cape Reinga

Maori language

Surville Cliffs

The Surville Cliffs are the northernmost point of the mainland of New Zealand. They are situated on the North Cape, New Zealand of the North Island, 30 kilometres to the east of Cape Reinga , and three kilometres more northerly....
. This wider North Cape, and specifically the Surville Cliffs, is the northernmost point of mainland New Zealand, being about three km further north than Cape Reinga. This article covers the wider North Cape.

North Cape was once an island formed by a marine volcano

Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
. Sand deposited by ocean currents eventually formed a tombolo

Tombolo

A tombolo or sometimes ayre is a deposition landform in which an island is attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar ....
known as Waikuku Flat which joined the island to the rest of the Aupouri Peninsula. The headland and flat combined now form the North Cape Peninsula.

A large part of North Cape is enclosed in the North Cape Scientific Reserve. The reserve’s purpose is to protect the unique flora and fauna of the area, some of it endemic to a small area on Surville Cliffs. An electrified fence was erected in 2000 to create a mainland island by excluding the possums

Common Brushtail Possum

The Common Brushtail Possum is the largest possum, and the Australian marsupial most often seen by city-dwellers, since it is one of the very few that thrives in cities as well as a wide range of natural and human-modified environments....
, feral pigs and semi-wild horses of the area. The reserve is closed to the public and managed by the Department of Conservation

New Zealand Department of Conservation

The Department of Conservation , commonly known by its acronym, "DOC", is the state sector organisations in New Zealand of New Zealand which deals with the Conservation ethic of New Zealand?s natural and historic Cultural heritage....
(DoC).

Much of Waikuku Flat is in another DoC reserve, the Mokaikai Scenic Reserve which stretches south to Parengarenga Harbour

Parengarenga Harbour

Parengarenga Harbour is a natural harbour close to the northernmost point on the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the northern end of the Aupouri Peninsula, it extends inland for over 10 kilometres, almost severing the northern tip of the island from the rest of the peninsula....
. This reserve is open to the public but land access is via an area in Maori

Maori

The Maori are the indigenous people Polynesian people of Aotearoa . The group probably arrived in south-western Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300....
tribal ownership and a permit is required from the controlling Maori body to cross the land. Another strip of Maori land lies between the Mokaikai reserve and the North Cape reserve. This strip includes the southern part of North Cape and the northern edge of Waikuku Flat. It stretches from Kerr Point and the north end of Tom Bowling Bay on the north coast across to Tokatoka Point on the west coast.