Northland

"The Four Sisters" - we debated over which tree was which Bazzarelli!
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Talking about setting roots……

We drove past Auckland towards Northland. This whole area on the western side is pretty much rolling hills and farmland, with pockets of native woods. We stopped first at the Kauri Museum. This lovely museum is dedicated to the Kauri Tree, a gigantic species of tree Native to New Zealand, which is only rivaled in size by the Sequoias (or giant Redwoods) of California. These did, not so long ago cover the areas which I earlier described as farmland, but were basically almost all chopped down except for an area known as the Kauri Forest Reserve. The museum is really interesting and it tells the history of the area which was basically shaped by the extraction of this beautiful wood. You cannot help but feel as you see the displays of how these people managed to cut down trees so enormous, get them down the mountains, and transport them to be shipped worldwide, that it was an amazing feat.

The cross-sections of the biggest Kauri can be seen on the wall...
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And yet as we drove further north towards the reserve itself nothing can prepare you for seeing a tree that has been alive for more than 2,000 years, and so enormous that you feel like a peppercorn and the fact that there are so few left is really a crime. The two biggest ones are known to the Maori as “The Father of the Forest”, and Tane Mahute - “The God of the Forest”. They used these trees very sparingly for building their war canoes and came to the base of these giants to ask permission and bless their boats.

A room full of Kauri amber shows just how lovely the gum can be when it is polished up.
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We stayed one night in a little town called Opononi, where we were hoping to do some sand tobogganing, but it rained solid for nearly 2 days (by solid I mean heavy drops and big torrential downpours). Luca was still running around barefoot and most of our clothes were wet and beginning to stink. I guess the sand tobagganing wasn't meant to be...