Cape Reinga in the context of "Aupōuri Peninsula"

The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) across and about 2,800 km (1,700 mi) from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 was the first known European to cross it. British explorer Lieutenant James Cook later extensively navigated the Tasman Sea in the 1770s during his three voyages of exploration.

The Māori people of New Zealand call this sea Te Moana-a-Rehua meaning 'the sea of Rehua' which clashes with the Pacific waters named Te Tai-o-Whitirea ('the sea of Whitirea') – after Whitirea, Rehua's lover – at Cape Reinga, the northernmost tip of North Island.

The Bay of Islands (Māori: Te Pēwhairangi) is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its big-game fishing since American author Zane Grey publicised it in the 1930s. It is 60 km (37 mi) north-west of the city of Whangārei. Cape Reinga, at the northern tip of the country, is about 210 km (130 mi) by road further to the north-west.

Bluff (Māori: Motupōhue), previously known as Campbelltown, is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand serving as the main port of Invercargill. It is the southernmost town in mainland New Zealand and, despite Slope Point and Stewart Island being further south, Bluff is colloquially used to refer to the southern extremity of the country (particularly in the phrase "from Cape Reinga to The Bluff"). According to the 2018 census, the resident population was 1,797, a decrease of 6 since 2013.

The Bluff area was one of the earliest areas of New Zealand where a European presence became established. The first ship's crew known to have visited the harbour were from Perseverance which had anchored at Stewart Island in 1813. They were in search of flax trading possibilities, with the first European settlers arriving about 1836 when a whaling station was established by William Stirling.