Row over Cape Reinga facilities

Stunning views and little else greet visitors to Cape Reinga, prompting criticism from a Northland promotional group.

Apart from a toilet block and picnic area, facilities are sparse for the estimated 200,000 annual visitors to New Zealand's northernmost point.

Destination Northland says the area is a disgrace and needs a visitor centre with facilities for explaining the cape's cultural, environmental and historical significance.

But the Conservation Department, which administers the area, says a centre is planned and work on it should begin within the next year.

Local tribe Ngati Kuri, who have a land claim on the area, says Destination Northland has no business making comments on the cape.

The cape, with its white lighthouse and sign showing the seemingly impossible distances to world capitals, holds a special place in the hearts of New Zealanders and, judging by the international flavour of the graffiti scrawled over signs and fence posts, is an important stop for tourists.

To many Maori, the cape, or Te Rerenga Wairua, is the place where the spirits of the dead leave for the ancestral land of Hawaiiki. It is also the point where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea converge in a daily display of power.

Until about 18 months ago visitors could buy a postcard from a store there, but the store was removed after a fire.

"We have virtual sheds at Cape Reinga where we should have a world-class visitor centre that reflects the spiritual and environmental uniqueness of the area," says Destination Northland chairman Eric Stephens.

"We should have a financially viable icon that educates, entertains and provides significant direct and indirect employment."

Mike Simm, the executive director of Fullers Bay of Islands, which runs six tourist coaches daily to the cape from Paihia, said: "It's a national disgrace and a major disappointment for the people who visit the area."

But German tourists Claudia Roehr, aged 30, and Thomas Lochte, 41, said the cape should be left unspoilt.

They did not think the toilets or visitor facilities were inadequate.

Bob Ranson, 65, and his wife, Margaret, 61, of Herne Bay in England, were also more than happy with what was on offer.

"Why would you want a tourist centre here? We've only got half an hour," Mrs Ranson said.

DoC Kaitaia area manager Steve McGill said about $40,000 had been spent on a working party and the preparation of a feasibility study into a centre design.

DoC had also made one of its houses in the area available to Ngati Kuri to operate as a shop but there was no date for when it would open.

He said it was disappointing that Destination Northland had felt it necessary to criticise what was being done.

Ngati Kuri Trust Board chairman Graeme Neho said the facilities at the cape were no business of Mr Stephens or Destination Northland.

"Don't try and steal the mana of Ngati Kuri."