Hararu Falls Resort, Hararu Falls, North Island, New Zealand. 430km
Click Here Later for Pictures
Maori word of the day: Aortearoa – Land of the Long White Cloud. the Maori name for New Zealand.
Shabat Shalom!
Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the US!
We have been traveling around for 3 days and slowly discovering New Zealands north.
On Wednesday morning we spent some time in Waiwera Hot Springs, a 19 pool complex heated totally by natural hot springs. The weather was nice and warm, and the water, at 37C was perfect for the kids and Paola. The 200 school kids on a class trip did not provide the quiet relaxed atmosphere we had hoped for.
We continued north to Goat Island Beach, NZ’s first marine reserve. People were snorkeling looking at the fish, but after Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef, it seemed pointless to me. Especially since the water here was really cold.
We then drove on, through a gravel road to Pakiri Beach, where we set up for the night at the local campground. A short walking distance from our site was a long awaited playground for the kids, and when they had enough, I took them to the sandy patches near the ocean to run around. After a nice dinner outside, on our tiny foldable picnic table, we took the kids for a shower in the camp amenities, a strategic change of approach. We normally prefer washing them in the RV, but this one is so cramped in the toilet/shower section, that we switched to schlepping all three with their towels, diapers, pjs and soap to the nearest camp shower and back. No doubt an intense 20 minutes of water and fun
We lefty Pakiri Beach yesterday towards noon, as we are still getting up really late. We started making our way to the kauri coast, named after the giant trees that almost became extinct due to excessive logging. We stopped at Mat??? At the Kauri Museum and learned all about the tree, the timber industry and the gum industry that it created. Kauris are the redwoods or sequoias of the southern hemisphere. They can reach 50 meters in height and live to be 2000 years old.
The museum also included displays depicting sawmills, family life, and post office around 100 years ago. Another interesting exhibit was a gum collection in the basement. The gum is the resin (Saraf) from the tree. Over millions of years lots of gum was buried underground near the trees, and an entire generation of gumdigers earned their living finding the golden goo and selling it. Various uses included varnish, jewelry and sculpting.
After lunch outside the museum we continued towards Wai??? Park, where the last few groves of Kauris remain. After getting lost on some gravel side roads, we reached the park and checked in to the campground. There are no kauri trees but the sound of quiet nature and chirping of birds were bliss.
This morning we finally made it to the kauri trees on a short hike to the “Four sisters†and then Te Matua Ngahere which is the second largest kauri. We then drove another few minutes to see the largest living kauri tree, Tane Mahuta, which was a seedling around the time the Romans kicked us out of Judea and burnt the temple for the second time. All these big trees were and are holy to the Maoris. Aside from the Kauris, the walk through the forests was filled with ferns growing up to 10 meters high and very impressive.
We decided to not head up north all the way to Cape Reigna, and instead started driving back east towards the Bay of Islands. We stopped for a photo op at Hokianga Bay, whre forest meet sand dunes meet the Tasman sea. From there, another hour and a half drive and we reached the Bay of Islands. Along the drive in the past few days many of the names have a Hawaiian flavor to them. I am thinking that there is common ancestry in the Hawaiian and Maori languages.
We went to Waitangi, site of the famous 1840 “Waitangi Treaty†between the British Settlers and the Maoris who had been in New Zealand for 800 years by that time. The treaty, to this day, is a cornerstone of racial relations in NZ. Today, about 15% of 4 million kiwis are Maoris, but unlike other natives (US and Australia), they have strong political force and representation in the NZ parliament.
We are now parked at Hararu falls, on the water about 200m away from a nice, albeit small waterfall. The falls are supposed to be lit up at night, but it has been raining for the last hour so I can’t really see very well. We got lucky with the rain. It was cloudy all day but not a drop. We had dinner outside and took the kids to the campsite shower. Just as we all returned to the RV, the downpour began. I hope tomorrow will be nice because The Bay of Islands is a place were you’re supposed to be enjoying the outdoors and the views.
Good Night,
-Hemi
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 4:22 am and is filed under Big Trip, New Zealand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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