Kauri

Tane Mahuta
When a tree hits the 1000 year old mark, it's only fair that it gets a name. When that tree is a New Zealand kauri tree, the significance of its age is shown in it's girth and aura. In fact, several ancient kauri trees in New Zealand have names but none are as old, or as large as Tane Mahuta, the "Lord of the forest". Seeing him standing there, its hard to take a picture of him which does him justice. For perspective, the diameter of his trunk is wider than Johan is tall.

Trounson Kauri park
Intrigued by these ancient trees, we followed the signs across 8k of bumpy road to the Trounsen park where a small forest of kauri trees are growing. None were so big as the lord of the forest however there were a few there that were undoubtedly several hundred years old.

It was getting late by this time and we still hadn't booked anywhere to stay for the night. To make things worse, my mobile phone had just run out of battery... Then we hit a streak of good luck. The nice man at the petrol station in Dargaville gave us a leaflet which had some places to stay including one in Matakohe which is where we were thinking of staying. The lovely waitresses at Jo's home cooking allowed us to charge my mobile in their plugs enough for me to call the number on the leaflet and discover that they did indeed have a room for us for the night.

It continued when we found the place, finally, and discovered that it was a "homestay" accommodation, run by a lovely couple in semi-retirement. Some friend of theirs had been over for dinner and were still there when we arrived and we were invited to pour a glass of wine and sit and chat with them. We ended up singing old Harry Belafonte and Maori songs (the woman proprietor was a Maori descendant). What a find! If you're interested, the name of the place was Moewaka Villa and their phone number is +64 9 431 6351. If you ever find yourself in North of the North Island, then stay there.

Kauri museum
Today we woke up and after a delicious meal, spent the rest of the morning in the Kauri museum. A bit odd at first, this museum of wood slowly draws you in as it takes you through a journey of the life of the loggers of the mighty kauri trees. It shows the evolution of the saws, mills and working conditions of the kauri bushmen throughout the 1800's to the modern day rangers who protect the trees. Samples of the wood are on display, as well as working mill tools and saws that were used. Oddly fascinating.