Kiwis like to gage much of the success of their being through comparing themselves to Aussies. They are especially proud of the fact that they don't have so many of the dreadful creatures that Australia possesses that can kill or mame you immediately. New Zealand itself has no creatures of such to worry about. No snakes, no bears or wolves; and if you get bitten by its one poisons spider, you become somewhat of a local celebrity, as the spider is pretty rare, and it's bite really a mere inconvenience rather than a seal of doom. But New Zealand does posses one vexing element. It's roads!
I have spent the last three days, on a tour of the Northland (the area north of Auckland). I would say that a good 98% of my journey I was going around curves. Probably about 45% of the time I was driving through road construction, of varying degrees. And probably a good 80% of the bridges I crossed were one lane, where the opposing traffic had to stop to allow passage. There are a precious few guardrails, which is disheartening at times when driving through mountain roads (which is most of the roads here). When you have warning signs all within a kilometer of each other warning of curvy roads, falling rocks, and steep grades, it makes driving interesting! Driving outside of the city requires great concentration, and is not advisable for those who are not absolutely certain that they are ready to meet their maker. Relax mom, I'm being facetious.
After leaving Whatuwhiwhi (pronounced Fatufifi) where I last blogged, I took a tour of cape Reinga, the northern most point of New Zealand. The tour goes up the long narrow peninsula leading to the cape. Although there is a highway that goes the distance, what fun is going the highway? The tour buses actually drive up 90 mile beach, most of the distance up the peninsula, at near highway speed. The ride is just as smooth as being on a paved road.
There are no official exits off of the beach, so toward the end of the run, the bus travels up a stream a bit inland, where it stops in an area where the natural sand dunes have been left. On most of the rest of the peninsula, the native dunes have been planted with forests and dune grasses for conservation, but not here. The bus then stopped and the driver pulled out a stack of plastic sleds. We went up to the top of the dune (which was huge), and sledded down. It was really a lot of fun! IMPORTANT TIP: should you ever get the chance to dune sled, keep your mouth closed. I was laughing the whole way down, and my mouth was open, it was no longer funny whe I got to the bottom and had a mouth full of sand.
After leaving there we stopped at a beach and had lunch. After lunch it was still a pretty good drive to the cape. And in true New Zealand fashion, a beautiful day turned into a torrential downpour. They say in NZ, you will experience all four seasons in one day, and that is no exaggeration.
I had no intention on coming this far, to sit on the bus because of rain. So I ran. However, it was a pretty good distance, so by the time I got down to the cape, I was soaked. I stood under a ledge on the lighthouse and finally the weather lifted a bit. From the cape you could actually see a line where the Pacific Ocean and Tasmin Sea came together. The view was worth getting soaked, but it did make for a cold ride back.
After a couple more stops, we got back to Kaitaia where we had left from. We stopped at a visitors center that is dedicated to the Kauri tree. Kaui's are the redwoods of New Zealand and they are huge. At one point, the entire northern end of the island was covered with Kauri forests. At some point several thousands of years ago, some event knocked all the forests down. The trees were buried in the peat swamps, and preserved. Today there is an industry in going in and digging out these trees, which have been preserved by the peat swamps. Some are pulled out with bark and green leaves still intact! These massive logs are then used to make all sorts of furniture, decorative stuff, and overpriced tourists trinkets. But the stuff is beautiful. In the visitors center, they had a huge log standing up, floor to ceiling. Into the log, a spiral staircase had been carved, This stiarcase was wide enough for 2 or 3 people to walk up shoulder to shoulder. it was really a sight to see.
After changing out of my soggy clothes, I began heading back south. On my way I drove through The Waipoua forest, it is a Kauri tree sanctuary. I stopped here and saw Tane Mahuta (Lord of the forest), which is a live Kauri tree that is about 2,000 years old. Yeah... I know. It was absolutely huge. The trunk is nearly 14 meters in circumference, and nearly 8 meters in diameter. I stood their gawking, and thought, I could stand here looking at this tree for hours, and that would only be a blink of time compared to all this tree has seen. Its unbelievable that any living thing could survive that long. It really has way of making one feel quite small, but not in a negative way, rather in a way that makes you understand that we are all part of a wheel that turns throughout time, and every part of it is connected to every other part in some small way. There are other trees in this forest nearly as old and as big as this one, but I only had time to see the one. It was getting late and I had to find a place to stay the night.
After driving for what seemed like forever I pulled into a campground well after dark and sat up camp. I could tell there were lots of trees around because I could hear the wind through them, unlike any sound I have ever heard. I woke up the next morning to find that the campgrounds were in the middle of another Kauri forest. After packing up, I hiked the trail into the forest. I walked past tree after tree, each seemingly dwarfing the one before. One huge one in particular had a station by it that identified it as being over 1,200 years old. It was an amazing walk.
After the walk, I got back in the car and headed back to Auckland with a few small stops along the way to see things along the way that were sign poasted off the main highway. Some gorgeous spring fed lakes, a mountain that went straight up, and looked like it was something from middle earth in the Lord of the Rings.
I'm back in Auckland now doing laundry and preparing for the next phase.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
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