in the ancient Kauri forest
our Tank on the famous Ninety Mile Beach
After leaving our camping ground at Rarawa Beach on the eastern coast of the Far North peninsula we head up to the tip of mainland New Zealand, Cape Reinga. They're in the middle of tarmaccing the highway up here. It's obviously proving a more beaten track as campervans, motorbikes and full blown tour buses are increasingly making the trip up here to view the point where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean and witness the Moari souls make their final journey back to their Polynesian homeland, according to the ancient legend. We're impressed by the sight of the waves of the two bodies of water meeting, crashing and changing current and by the expansive views across the seas. It's pretty chilly so we beat a hasty retreat back to the cosy comfort of our van and head on to the entrance to the top of Ninety Mile Beach, Te Paki river bed. Greg's excited to try out his new motor on the legendary drag strip otherwise known as 90 mile beach so we spare no time in worrying whether we'll be able to get it off again (everyday cars are stranded in the sands) and switch to 4x4 mode. The Tank makes easy work of the sand and soon we're cruising down the stretch, surfers' waves on one side, dunes on the other. For a good while we're the only ones in sight and we decide to take advantage of the waves and try out our boogie boards for the first time. It's not long before we're bounding back ashore as the cold water is not as inviting as it looks but it's fun and, if we weren't awake before, we sure are now! At the exit from the beach the sand gets deeper and for a split second we're not sure if we'd make it to the concrete ramp, but, sure enough, the Tank survived. Our campsite at Kauri forest offers nightime guided walks to birdwatch for Kiwi so we sign ourselves up, have a quick shower, and meet up with our guide, Herb, at the office at 8. Herb drove us to the Kauri Walks car park and furnished us with torches for navugating the forest paths. He himself carried a powerful red light which he used to scan the undergrowth in search of the elusive Kiwi. He explained that Kiwis, because they cannot fly, have been preyed upon by stray and farmers' dogs, the unwanted possum (that was brought in from Australia) and rats who steal the eggs. Therefore the populations of the nation's bird have been in decline and every effort is now made to protect them from becoming extinct. The Trounson Kauri estate is a success story, now boasting 200 birds, due mostly to the use of predator traps around the area. The Kiwi is a nocturnal creature, sleeping 18 hours during the day in the small nests they make in the roots of trees, and coming out to feed at night. They pair off for life (lifespan 15 years) and, as a couple dominate a sizeable territory, calling out to each other as they search for food to let each other know where they are and to fend off any other Kiwis from their land. We are lucky enough to hear a pair calling to each other across our path but are unable to catch a glimpse of one. The nine of us tramping along on a gravel path has probably warned them of our presence. I am very excited however to see many glow-worms for the first time- flickering little lights in the upturned roots of a toppled kauri tree and the kauri trees themselves are a very impressive sight. They are ancient giants of the forest, the oldest one Tane Mahuta (Moari forest god) is in excess of 2,000 years old. They grow higher than the forest canopy in their first 2-300 years (on average 50 metres in height) then they start to fill out in the trunk and their girth can end up reaching anywhere up to 16 metres. They have an unfortunately shallow root system and can easily be toppled if damaged. Herb shows us a dead kauri which fell last year and explains that the tree is completely legally protected from being touched even when on the ground. It is illegal to remove any part of it but it can be a temptation to master carvers in the area who view the kauri wood as the most valuable for making into all sorts of furniture.
