Kauri Forests to Pukenui

The following day we woke up and played on the flying fox (flying fox being kiwi for zip line) at the Holiday park. New Zealand kids get to play on much cooler toys.





When our fun was over we headed into the Kauri forest. Kauri are these old as sin (literally about as old as when Jesus was around) trees, that were heavily logged when Europeans got here with their greedy little hands. They hold spiritual significance in Maori culture, and this forest had the giants of the giants. In the pics below you will see the four sisters, the second largest and oldest Kauri tree Te Matua Ngahere, the seventh largest Kauri, Yakas, and finally the tallest Kauri Tane Mahuta. Its pretty unbelievable to imagine these trees kickin it back in the BC, and still here today!

Here are the 4 Sisters:


Here we are with Te Matua Ngahere:


Here we are with the Yakas:


Here is John's favorite picture of the Yakas:


Here we are with Tane Mahuta in the far background:


We continued heading up north Waiotemarama Bush walk. The book described this as a good walk with picturesque waterfalls. Since it was late in the day we knew we couldn't do the entire walk but would be able to see Waiotemarama Falls (the picture below):




After a long day of foresting, we drove even more North to stay in Pukenui. Along the way the prettiest sight was Hokianga Harbor. So we took a quick picture on the drive: