Northland, NZ, and homeward bound

It's difficult to believe that the trip that started last year is now in its fourth calendar month and about to end. It has truly been an enchanted couple of months and we've already got a "to do" list for next time.  I can't wax nostalgic forever, so I'll get to finishing the last post in this travelogue.
Upon heading north from Snells Beach, we soon entered the region called "Northland" at the tip of the peninsula north of Auckland.  Although never far from the sea, we caught only fleeting glimpses now and then when the road was at higher elevations.  We stopped in Whangarei at the information office where, in addition to a week's worth of suggestions, they provided us with a booking for lodging in the Paihia area (Bay of Islands, which really is gorgeous, but no time for water activities).  (More on our room later)  On the way north, we made a brief stop  in Kawakawa to see, if not the most stylish, then one of the most stylish public toilets in the world.  It is the first building in the Southern Hemisphere designed by the architect Fredrick Hundertwasser.  When we were there, there was an entire bus of German tourists swarming the place, including the women marching right into the men's room to observe.

Exterior of the Hundertasser public toilet in Kawakawa. 

Entry to the men's room side.

Interior shot of the ceramic tile walls.  The entire interior was done like this.

We arrived in Paihia just before noon and went straightaway to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds complex.  It is the location where the treaty between the British and the Maori was originally signed in 1840 and is considered as the birth of the nation of New Zealand.  With a formal treaty outlining the rights and duties of each group, the Maori have probably fared better than most other indigenous groups who were colonized by Europeans, although it was not all roses.  The museum at the site documents the events leading up to the original treaty as well as enforcement (or lack thereof) over the years as well as more recent laws that have reinforced a commitment to at least some of the treaty.  While NZ is not without racial issues, it seems to be far ahead of much of the world.  This history, like any, is too complex to summarize well in a few sentences, so I'll leave it to you to follow my link to the Treaty Grounds web site or do some Googling on your own--for North American readers, it is definitely something you did NOT learn much about in school.  In addition to the museum, there was the house where the treaty was signed, a newer Maori meeting house and a large Maori war canoe on the grounds.  In all, we stayed almost six hours and also experienced a Maori singing/dancing presentation and a tour of the grounds from a Maori perspective.  For me, this is one of those "must see" spots.

The flag pole at the treaty grounds.  Three flags fly:  NZ at the top, independent Maori NZ (for about 5 years in the 1840's) and the Union Jack.

The house of the British representative in NZ and where the treaty was drafted.

Facing the house above and also adjacent to the treaty grounds is a more recently constructed ceremonial, carved meeting house.

Maori dance demonstration inside the meeting house.

With some of the dancers after the presentation.

Ngatokimatawhaorua, a large ceremonial war canoe.  It is constructed from the trunks of three Kauri trees coupled together.  It holds 120 people (80 paddlers) and is actually sailed on special occasions.  It is mounted on dollies and there are tracks down to the bay for launching.

Our lodging was about a half hour away from Paihia near Kerikeri at Aroha Island Eco Centre.  It's far off the beaten path and run by a non-profit conservation organization that also offers camping sites.  It's not truly on an island as a road traverses a narrow neck of land between the mainland and the island.  All along that road are traps with poison targeting small, invasive mammals such as possums and rats.  Originally, NZ was a bird-based ecosystem with no mammals and few predators, so many of the birds are/were flightless.  With Europeans, however, came invaders and the island is trying to protect the Kiwi population by keeping the small mammals off the island.  Oh...and the room was also quite comfortable.  There are only 3 cottages for rental, but if available, it's a nice spot to escape the rat race.  We made a brief attempt after dark to stand quietly in the woods and see an elusive kiwi.  The kiwi search wasn't successful, but the sky was beautiful and moonless--I can't remember when I've seen the Milky Way so vividly.
We headed mostly west and a bit north in the morning with the goal of visiting the Gumdiggers Park, but along the way decided to make a short side trip to visit one of the NZ Frenzy suggestions--St. Pauls Rock, located in the small, sea-side town of Whangaroa.  After a bit of confusion (the guidebook's directions were a bit faulty), we arrived and made the 600 walk up to the top.  While 600 m is not such a long distance, there was also an elevation change of 150 m, so it was not a piece of cake.  The final ascent required the use of some permanently attached chains.  As with all pinnacles, the view from the top is superb, but the view of marina, sailboats and mountain peaks is particularly  pleasing.

St. Pauls Rock in Whangaroa.  The climb from the car park is about 300 m of elevation in 1600 m of walking.

Susan on the grass approach before the rock climbing.

Susan and me at the top of St. Pauls Rock.

We continued on and arrived at the Gumdiggers Park, just north of Waipapakauri, shortly before noon.  We had a picnic in the park before starting our walkabout.  The woman at the ticket counter said the average time to go through is about 45 minutes, but we spent almost three hours completely fascinated.  So this park needs a bit of explanation:  The Kauri is an ancient and very large tree native to New Zealand.  (it is believed that some earlier trees were the largest trees on earth in terms of biomass per tree--bigger than the Sequoias.)  There are still some Kauri forests, but they have largely been eliminated since European settlement.  The tree secretes a resin, or gum, that was at one time an important ingredient in varnishes and wood finishes.  To obtain the gum, it was first gathered off the ground near the living trees or off the ground where ancient trees had grown.  The ancient gum was semi-petrified and is sometimes referred to as New Zealand amber.  When surface gum became scarce, they began to "mine" ancient, buried gum, which is what occurred at this site.  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, men would dig into the peat to recover the gum for export.  This site was never reclaimed or re-converted to agriculture, so it still includes many gum holes.  In addition to the gum holes, there are numerous displays and a video about gum digging, the Kauri trees and why they might have disappeared at this site, info about other flora and fauna in the area and most remarkable, an unearthed Kouri log that has been dated to 100-150 thousand years ago--it is the oldest non-petrified wood every found.  In fact, this old Kauri wood is still extracted and used for turning, wood working and crafts.  Another great spot to visit and for this one, we have Erin and Wm to thank.  I should also mention that this park is completely privately run and is among the better-documented and better-signed places we've been, so I think they are quite passionate about the endeavor.

Wesley and Susan at an unburied Kauri log dated between 100,000 and 150,000 years old.  It was preserved in the acidic bog environment and is not petrified.

Susan with some of the gum diggers tools.

The only very young Kauri tree we saw on the trip.  This one was planted at the park about 20 years ago.

Sending greetings to William and Erin from a bench carved from a single dug-out Kauri log.

In one of the holes from gum digging days.  The holes now are typically two meters deep or so, but may originally have been much deeper (if water removal could be successfully accomplished).

Susan looking down into an excavation of a Kauri stump.

Susan with a background of Manuka trees, the source for a particular medicinal honey she recommends.

The next day we wanted to visit a living Kauri forest to the south so needed to make some headway.  We drove about 3.5 hours, though not so many km as the roads were very curvy and we also had to wait about 45 minutes for a ferry crossing at Rawene (apparently the 3rd oldest European settlement in NZ according to the bulletin board at the fish and chips shop).  As it was getting late and we were ready to stop, we took a cabin at a caravan park (RV park) in Rawene.  The only problem was that we forgot to ask if linen was included, so all we had were bottom sheets and no towels.  (Except I had a backpacking towel that Susan ridiculed me for bringing, so my shower went pretty smoothly :-).)  Fortunately the weather was rather mild and the lack of cover was only a bit uncomfortable.  However, Susan, felon that she is, went into the neighboring cabin (a deluxe unit that was not locked) and borrowed a blanket for the night, so we managed a relatively comfortable night.  On the plus side, we had a beautiful sunset with a crescent moon, Venus and the mountains silhouetted against an orange sky.  Also, they had laundry facilities, so we should now be good to home.  Hard to believe, but only one more full day here and next week at this time, we'll have been home for two days.  (I'm sure it will be spring by then!)

Susan on the Hokianga ferry.

We left Rawene and approximately followed the Hokianga inlet to the Tasman Sea.  (The same body of water we crossed the day before on the ferry.)  We stopped for a brief walk out to the signal point with a great, sun-rise view of Hokianga Harbor to the east and the coastline to the west, then headed south to one of our two main goals for the day.

View to the north across the inlet to Hokianga harbor.

View looking south from the same location with the Tasman Sea.

After seeing ancient, preserved Kauri trees the day  before, today was the day to see the real McCoy, so this called for several stops at Waipoua Forest Reserve.  The walks from the car park ranged from five to perhaps thirty minutes each way.  The first stop was to see Tane Mahuta, the largest know living Kauri.  On other walks we saw other top ten trees as well as groves and groupings of the trees.  Unlike the redwoods or sequoias, the Kauri are interspersed among many other types of trees, tree ferns, etc., and are not a complete grove of strictly Kauris.  Another facet of the visit was that we had to brush and sanitize our shoes going into and coming out of each forest track.  There is  fungus that is killing some of the Kauris and they are trying to stop the advance.  In addition, several tracks were closed completely to visitors due to the infection.

Tane Mahuta (Lord of the Forest), the largest known standing Kauri.  Like redwoods or Sequoias, it is difficult to capture an entire tree with one shot!  Note how the trunk does not taper, so the amount of usable lumber per tree is quite large.

A upward view of a Kauri tree.

Susan at the base of a Kauri tree.  This is a typical tree, not one of the giants.

Our last major goal for the trip was to see glow worms, so Susan picked out the Waipu Cave from the NZ Frenzy guide book which was free to enter, but would require some wading in muddy water.  In addition, the book said that this cave leaned towards the obscure rather than popular.  The cave was, indeed, a fantastic experience.  The glow worms (actually fly larvae) on the cave ceiling looked something like the night sky (although not quite like the dark skies we've been experiencing here).  Unfortunately, capturing the effect with a camera proved futile.  Suffice it to say the experience was worth it to wade around in muddy water in a dark cave--which is saying a lot for me.  The one negative is that it did not turn out to be quite as obscure as we had hoped.  After an initial five or ten minutes alone enjoying the spectacle, we were "invaded" by a series of visitors, at least one of whom seemed seemed to continually have a flashlight lit.

Susan at the cave entrance.

The cave itself had some attractive formations, but the glow worms were the prime attraction.

This is a time exposure from the internet and is a good indication of what we saw.  My attempts at photos only show a few of the points of light.

Also from the internet, this is a close-up of the worms (larvae) with the fibers hanging.

From Waipu, we headed back to our previous lodging in Snells Beach to pack and prepare for the flight home.  The flight is not until evening, so we may find something to do tomorrow, but it will be an unrushed day (barring disaster on the drive to Auckland!).
Last day in New Zealand and it dawns mostly clear with some scattered clouds.  We have had remarkable weather throughout our trip with only three days that were affected at all by rain (and nothing serious) and a few beastly hot days in Oz (though not unexpected).  We had nothing specific planned for the day, but since flights were not until 7:30 or later and the car didn't need to be back until 5:00, we decided to backtrack north and visit the Kauri Museum at ##.  This gave us one last chance to drive through the New Zealand country side.  One thing that I've noticed particularly in NZ is that they love to plant things in rows to form hedges or wind breaks:  bamboo, flowering shrubs, conifers, broad-leafed trees, Toetoe (a native that looks like Pampas grass, New Zealand flax (looks like agave or yucca).  Many are completely solid and they are often trimmed to an even, planer surface--some were trimmed as high as five or six meters.  This is perhaps a vestige of the cultural connection to England?
It turns out the museum was an excellent choice as it added to our overall knowledge of the Kauri tree, but it also housed exhibits about the history and development of the area, which included some interesting artifacts.  The museum had a fabulous display of decorative gum.  It looks a bit like amber but is available in much larger pieces so that artistic possibilities are much wider.  There were also many examples of beautiful furniture and household/industrial items made of Kauri wood.  Finally, there were many examples of equipment used in the Kauri industry (logging as well as gum digging) over the years, with many connected to the local people who earned their livings from the Kauri.  One particularly interesting item was a piece of Kauri wood that was recovered from a coal mine in Australia that is dated at about 30 million years, but it has not been petrified so is still wood.  (Note:  there is some possibility that the wood is not Kauri but a close relative;  however the best theory at present is Kauri.)

Clock and kiwi carved from Kauri gum.

A part of the gum collection on display.  All the gum is in a fire-proof vault in the basement of the museum.

A sample of some of the Kauri furniture on display.

A board-room table made from a single slap of Kauri.  It was made for a brewery, but more recently was used in a government office before being given to the museum.

A butter churn made of Kauri.

One of the exhibits about lumbering the Kauri.  On steep slopes where oxen couldn't go, they built dams like this to hold back water.  When a number of trees were ready to transport, the gate at the bottom was suddenly opened, carrying the logs downhill in the temporary flood.

Multiple slabs from a single tree pieced together to show the scale of the trunk.

Susan with a graphic showing the diameter of several large Kauris.  Tane Mahuta, the largest living tree, is the ring above her head.  The larger rings represent trees that no longer exist.

We then had an uneventful drive back through Auckland to the airport, got the car turned in and were checked in and at the waiting area by shortly after 5:00.
For anyone still reading after suffering through all of these posts, I can't recommend more highly planning a trip to Australia, New Zealand or both while you're in the neighborhood.  For Australia, recognize the size when you plan--distances are often very far between attractions.  For New Zealand, distances are not so great, but roads are slower and there are also many attractions closer together, so it takes longer to cover a given area in NZ than in Australia.  For both, don't be afraid of leaving the paved roads (although beware of going on four-wheel-drive tracks in a regular car) and give yourself as much time as possible--there are absolutely no worries of running out of things to do.  Since our only other stop going home is Las Vegas (and what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas), this will be the final post.  I hope I was able to convey at least a fraction of the wonder we experienced on this trip.

Brief epilogue:  We made it to Vegas ok, but had a bit of a struggle getting through US Customs.  We were in line about 1 hour 10 minutes, I think because we checked that we had some food with us--a small jar of Manuka honey.  When we finally got to the window, we were waved through immediately.  This was about 50 minutes longer that the combined  times of passing through Australia and New Zealand (twice) custom, even with our endangered species issue.  Perhaps this was because over half of the inspection stations were not staffed.