AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Chris had been wanting to do some kayaking around the bay, so this morning we rented a two-man sea kayak and paddled from the beach at Paihia to a couple of nearby islands, then up to the mouth of the Waitangi River. We then tried navigating up the river to see a waterfall that's supposedly somewhere upstream, but got lost in the mangroves instead and had to turn around. My arms were getting really tired, anyway.
We then left the Bay of Islands and drove across to the west side of the North Island, stopping when we reached the coast at Omapere. We came across an incredible overlook and coastal walkway there, with panoramic clifftop views of the Tasman Sea, mountainous sand dunes, weird windblown plants , and soft sandstone rock formations, with clear blue waters and kelp beds below--very Roger Dean-ish in places.
I really wish we could have stayed and explored the area some more, but I was on a mission to see some kauri trees, so we then headed south down the "Kauri Coast." Kauri trees are New Zealand's largest and oldest trees, rivaling North America's redwoods and sequoias. I mean, they're frigging huge. After 200 years of extensive logging, there aren't too many left, but there are several forests where you can still see some of the big ones.
We stopped at the Waipoura Kauri Forest, where we saw Tane-mahuta, the "god of the forest," which at 51 meters high is the tallest tree in New Zealand; Te matue-ngahere, the 2000-year-old "father of the forest," which is the widest at five meters in diameter; and a few others not important enough to have tree names. They really were pretty spectacular and appropriately ancient-looking, and walking through a forest of the weird native flora of New Zealand (instead of the introduced oak, pine, elm, etc. that cover most of the country) was a pretty surreal experience. And I'm not sure, but I strongly suspect that the kauri trees were an influence on the design of the giant mallorn trees of Caras Galadhon in the movie version of The Fellowship of the Ring. (Wow, does that sound nerdy or what?)
After communing with the trees, we drove further south, traveling across some beautiful rolling hills and farmland right out of a Grant Wood landscape, before arriving in Auckland for one more night.
Chris had been wanting to do some kayaking around the bay, so this morning we rented a two-man sea kayak and paddled from the beach at Paihia to a couple of nearby islands, then up to the mouth of the Waitangi River. We then tried navigating up the river to see a waterfall that's supposedly somewhere upstream, but got lost in the mangroves instead and had to turn around. My arms were getting really tired, anyway.
We then left the Bay of Islands and drove across to the west side of the North Island, stopping when we reached the coast at Omapere. We came across an incredible overlook and coastal walkway there, with panoramic clifftop views of the Tasman Sea, mountainous sand dunes, weird windblown plants , and soft sandstone rock formations, with clear blue waters and kelp beds below--very Roger Dean-ish in places.
I really wish we could have stayed and explored the area some more, but I was on a mission to see some kauri trees, so we then headed south down the "Kauri Coast." Kauri trees are New Zealand's largest and oldest trees, rivaling North America's redwoods and sequoias. I mean, they're frigging huge. After 200 years of extensive logging, there aren't too many left, but there are several forests where you can still see some of the big ones.
We stopped at the Waipoura Kauri Forest, where we saw Tane-mahuta, the "god of the forest," which at 51 meters high is the tallest tree in New Zealand; Te matue-ngahere, the 2000-year-old "father of the forest," which is the widest at five meters in diameter; and a few others not important enough to have tree names. They really were pretty spectacular and appropriately ancient-looking, and walking through a forest of the weird native flora of New Zealand (instead of the introduced oak, pine, elm, etc. that cover most of the country) was a pretty surreal experience. And I'm not sure, but I strongly suspect that the kauri trees were an influence on the design of the giant mallorn trees of Caras Galadhon in the movie version of The Fellowship of the Ring. (Wow, does that sound nerdy or what?)
After communing with the trees, we drove further south, traveling across some beautiful rolling hills and farmland right out of a Grant Wood landscape, before arriving in Auckland for one more night.
posted by John Kuge at 11:33 PM
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