The 10 day Road show!

                                                       

Ferry across Hokianga Harbour

 1 April 2014
                                                        

Having survived the previous week, and the exploratory day excursions, we asked Kate to prioritize the things and places she wished to explore in North Island, during her remaining 10-14 days. The list would take only take us about 2 months, so we were not far off!

First up was a trip westwards from the Bay of Islands, towards Hokianga, where we would cross the harbour/river by ferry, and head down the western Kauri Coast, past the giant Kauri trees, through Dargaville, to the Kauri Museum in Matakohe, past Brynderwyn( sound familiar?), through Auckland, via the Firth of Thames, Tauranga, to Rotorua and theThermal Highway, the Blue Lake, the Buried City, towards lake Taupo.  That was about as far south as we felt we could go, and still get back to Auckland for Katie to catch her flight home…. Not that we cared if she missed it!!

The next 4 blogs are short photo travelogues of this 2000km circuit….. What fun we had!           

            

Rawene.....southern side of ferry trip......very quaint old village

View leaving Rawene over one of the many beautiful inlets

Memorial for wild dolphin "Opo" who befriended bathers at Opononi Beach

The heads at the entrance to Hokianga Harbour

 ...........On to the Kauri Coast and its beautiful forests and huge trees

Tane Mahuta "Lord of the Forest".......51m tall, 13.1m girth, 245cubic metres of timber, aged between 1200 and 2000 years

Walkway to the giant Kauri tree.....the roots are very shallow and prone to disease.
On to the Kauri Museum in Matakohe.....very impressive and a must see

Lengthwise section of a medium sized Kauri

Restored steam sawmill, lovingly maintained by a group of volunteer enthusiasts

A 1929 Caterpillar tractor for log hauling......replaced 112 oxen

This 1100 year old tree shows timelines from seedling, through 1642 discovery of NZ by Dutchman, Abel Tasman, Cook's voyages, Waitangi Treaty of 1840 to when it was felled in 1960

Kauri log on a wagon hauled by a span of 14 oxen.......note the very distinctive bark

A model of one of Logan's beautiful yachts

Very ornate domestic furniture, all Kauri.......and now there are so few left growing!

 A long drive around the Firth of Thames, down the Miranda Coast, home to thousands of birds

100's of oystercatchers.......endangered? Not here!