The Kauri Coast

After Northland we started moving south again along the west coast, known as Kauri Coast. After a quick ferry trip across Hokianga Harbour from Kohukohu to Rawene and a bit more driving we arrived at Waipoua Kauri Forest, where we went walking to see New Zealands best living specimens of kauri trees.

First stop was Tane Mahuta (Maori God of the Forest), the tallest kauri tree in New Zealand at 51.5 metres, estimated to be between 1200 and 2000 years old. We went on to see Te Matua Ngahere (The Father of the Forest), which is impressive as it has the widest girth of all the trees at 16.41 metres. It is believed to be 2000 years old. The other impressive sight is the Four Sisters, four tall trees clumped together.

Driving on, we spent the night in Dargaville before continuing to the Matakohe Kauri & Pioneer Museum, which was very interesting. It’s a very big museum pretty much in the middle of nowhere. A group of local descendants of the pioneers have done most of the work on the museum and have been acknowledged by their likeness being used for the people in the scale models showing the lives of kauri bushmen, tradesmen and their families. There is also a scale exhibit of a working sawmill and a gum room, with an amazing collection of sculpted and polished gum. It also includes a few pieces of gum with bugs caught inside in the style of Jurassic Park. I wonder what’s inside those bugs! This museum is well worth a visit if time allows.

With all the stress of sightseeing we then went on to the Thermal Pools and Slides in Parakai. The pools (and adjacent campsite) are looking a bit worn now, but there are plans in place to revamp the entire area which hopefully won’t take too long.