Month: January 2013

January – March 2013

After our Far North/West Coast Road trip, we returned to Opua and our normal routines. Here’s a gallery of snapshots from daily walks around the neighborhood.–Cyndi  (Click on a small image to see a larger version.)

January 30, 2013

The Waipoua Forest may serve as the backdrop for the giant kauris, but it’s magnificent in its own right.  Here’s a quick gallery we made of some of our photos, many taken with Rich’s phone after our camera batteries died.  You can click on any picture to enlarge and scroll.–Cyndi

January 30, 2013

After Tane Mahuta, it’s a short drive to another area to see the rest of the famous trees. How many you see depends on how much you’re willing to walk.  A two-hour round trip will take you by a lot of great trees.

Our first stop was the Four Sisters, four young (a mere 500 years old) kauris growing in very close proximity from the same large mound of pukahukahu (whatever that is).  This is unusual in that kauri usually fight for sole survival and grow alone, but these four grow together, branching only outward so as not to infringe on each other.

Next up was Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest).  This is not the tallest Kauri, but it is the oldest and widest.  When it was born, people were still living in caves during the Bronze Age.  This one does not sneak up on you; the massive trunk is a visual smack in the face as you round the corner.

We were feeling energetic and decided to walk onward to Cathedral Grove, a grouping of Karui trees that aren’t especially impressive individually, but beautiful as a group.  It lived up to its description: the view of this grove of trees is breathtaking.

Our final walk was to Yakas, the 7th’s largest kauri and a wide monster with a girth of over 42 feet.  It’s a beauty, and what’s nice is the walkway that keeps you some distance from the other trees goes right up to this one.  You can stand right next to it and hug it.

One thing that really struck me about the kauri trees were the ecosystems residing in their canopies high above the forest floor.  These trees may well have been the inspiration for the trees in the movie Avatar. –Cyndi

January 30, 2013

Our first stop in the Waipoua Forest was to see the spectacular Tane Mahuta (Maori for Lord of the Forest), the largest kauri tree in the world.  It has a girth of 45 feet, a height of 168 feet, and is estimated between 1,250 and 2,500 years old.

As an illustration of how big this tree is, we followed the path to a sign announcing Tane Mahuta, and Rich looked around and asked, “Where’s the tree?”  I laughed as I realized where it was and pointed behind him.  We were at the base of it, and the trunk was so massive it just sort of blended into the forest around us.  It’s literally so big that it’s hard to spot!  You have to stand back, realize what you’re looking at, and then look up.  In fact the best way to see it is from the viewing area about a minute’s walk away.  It is a giant amid the other trees. –Cyndi

January 30, 2013

At the town of Omapere, the highway turns and heads south down the west coast of New Zealand, through the Waipoua Forest where the largest kauri trees grow.  Kauri trees are New Zealand’s answer to California’s giant sequoia trees, massive tress over 1000 years old.  After a long history of being logged, they are now they are protected, and the oldest giants grow along the west coast.

When we headed south, the scenery changed from grassy hills to a forest thick with lush vegetation and tree ferns. –Cyndi