Up North

Our first stop after leaving Auckland was Paihia, where we spent half a day on a boat exploring the beautiful Bay of Islands. Besides looking cool, the great thing about campervan travel is that you can get off the beaten track and occassionally of the track altogether. We found a campsite in Maitai Bay on the Karikari Peninsular and shared it with a thousand mosquitoes and a pod of playful dolphins. We continued up north, all the way to Cape Reinga where we were stopped by a pretty scruffy looking chap who said he was collecting donations. I asked what for, obviously something he'd never really thought about, and after some serious thought he said that it was for the lighthouse. The Cape is very sacred in the Maori culture with them believing that it is the place from which the spirits of their dead depart. We walked down to the lighthouse and were about to drive off when a line of about 40 cars drove down into the carpark and then back up the road in what I assumed was a funeral procession. As we drove out, we noticed that all the cars had parked by some construction vehicles and that the chap collecting donations was receiving a surprise exit. We later found out that the Maori's have been protesting against development of the area.

Heading south we entered the Waipoua Forest, stopping to visit Tane Mahuta, the world's oldest and tallest Kaori tree, only 2000 years old and with a trunk girth of 17m, it really makes a person feel fairly insignificant. That night we went off on a guided walk through a section of the forest, seeing a lot of interesting stuff along the way. If any of you have ever seen a cave or tree wetter you'll understand me when I say that they are fairly disturbing looking creatures. These guys look like giant and athletic parktown prawns who surely received their name due to the fact that if 1 ever lands on you, you are sure to wet yourself.

Our guide pointed out a Kaori that had fallen over 30 years ago in a bad storm. It looked as if it was still alive, even though it's surprisingly small roots were completely ripped out the ground, which is the reason the tree was so popular as timber and almost completely wiped out. In amongst the roots and dirt of the base of the tree was a collection of a few hundred glow-worms, shining in the pitch black like it's own little universe.