Kauri Coast and a Fur Seal

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Kauri Coast, New Zealand

I slept in this morning...didn’t get up until 7 a.m., so we had a late start to the day, but it ended up being fine.

The campground was fantastic! It was like being camped at a park.  Kay was the person on duty and she told us all kinds of great things to do as we went further south.  She said we’ll love the south island, it is more beautiful and the people are much more laid back.  “If a New Zealander invites you over for dinner, you should go.  They’re trying to learn about your country.”  Wow! That’s hospitality.  

We had to do it, for the kids of course.  We had to find the big tree.  So we headed back north with one condition:  we had to go to Bluff where we could get down onto the beach and I could put my toes into the Tasman Sea. The roads in this area are winding and slow, climbing and dropping over a few km.  We questioned if we should even try to find the big tree and in the end we knew we had to do it for the memories of the NW with our children.  So back north we went.  We took one turn off that took us to an observation tower.  We had fun taking pictures and gazing at the breath-taking vista…and talking about my reaction to the news of the new principal at Excelencia.  Oh the things we regret….Finally we found what we thought was the visitor center.  It was just the visitor center café.  We’d need to go 10 km more to get to the carpark for the big tree.  Ten kilometers further we found the turn off and the big tree only to be told that this was actually the oldest tree. The biggest tree was 1 km further north.  We settled for the oldest and started walking.  To enter this forest, we had to wash the bottoms of our shoes and brush off the mud.  There is a forest disease that kills the Kauri (cow ry) trees and they are careful not to spread it from forest to forest.  The first thing we encountered was a sign suggesting we pay the parking attendant $2 because there had been break-ins in this carpark.  Funny, Kay at the Holiday Park had just told us that there’s little to no crime in NZ.  Guess we found the one place where thieves had been working!  We really weren’t sure what we were looking for, and kept speculating about which tree was the Kauri.  The rain had stopped, the sun was shining but this forest was dense and sometimes dark, much like the Hoh Rainforest in Washington’s Olympic National Park.  We also kept wondering which tree was a  Kauri.  We knew they had to be big, straight, and wide in diameter.  I was chugging along the path ahead of Jim when I realized he had stopped and was taking a picture.  His camera was pointing up, almost straight up and he said, “I think I found it.”  I had marched right past one the biggest tree’s I’d ever seen! And then we began to realize what we were seeing.  Five minutes into the hike we saw the Four Sisters, 4 trees that had grown together in a ring.  Fifteen minutes later, after descending down into thick rainforest, we turned a corner and there was the Father of the forest.  Forty-five feet in diameter and about 140 feet tall, while not the tallest this tree was the oldest at approximately 2,000 years old.  It’s a very grand tree and still alive.  We just looked at it in awe.

 The road is winding and narrow.  Jim said he felt like the 

road went off into the bush sometimes.

 The base of Four Sisters

 The toppish of Four Sisters

Back on the road, we headed to Bluff, what we would find out was a tiny town 6 km off the main road.  Another fantastic, breath-taking drive.  Homes, cows, geese, and eventually goats lined the road to this tiny ocean-side town.  

 Probably vacation homes for most, they clung to the side of the hill.  We couldn’t drive all the way to the beach, but we walked easily.  To the north is the bluff from which the town gains its name.  While only about 600 m to the top, the hikes a couple hours.  We headed straight for the beach.  Seeing the height and fierceness of the surf, I changed my mind about putting my toes in the water.  I was content to watch waves higher than I had seen before smash against the beach, inching further inland each time.  To the south were more sand dunes.  To the north, black lava bluffs.  The beach was littered with lava rocks and suddenly I saw one move.  What I thought was a rock ended up being a fur seal! We played tourist, approaching him as close as we could for pictures, he played tourist, posing and reacting to us.  We were enchanted at finding him on the beach and stayed as long as we could talking to him…Ok, I talked to him, Jim took pictures.

 Looking south

 Looking north -- our seal friend

Back on the road the trip became mundane, the roads straightening, travel getting faster.  By 6:30 p.m. we were passing through Auckland again headed to our stop for the night.  I hate traveling in traffic in the motor home on the left side of the road.  I kept my head down and read to Jim. 

We’re safely tucked away in yet another Holiday Park.  This one isn’t as nice; it’s still in the middle of town.  Tomorrow we’re off to Hobbiton!  More adventure awaits!

Random Thoughts:

·      I really want to try to visit a school.  Not sure if it would work, but have a feeling in a small town it might.

·      Town traffic makes me nervous.  Town traffic at night makes me more nervous.  Town traffic at night driving on the left side of the road is almost unbearable.

·      Heard an advertisement on the Tourism Radio for occupations for which the government is encouraging people to move here:  teachers and medical workers were among them!

 Night skyline of Auckland