Drive to Auckland

I break up the wet and grey drive to Auckland by visiting the highlight of the Northland's west coast. The superb forest sanctuary of Waipoua Forest is the largest remnant of the once extensive kauri forests of northern NZ.

The drive on SH12 winds through magnificent stands of tall kauri, rimu and northern rata, and offers extensive views in a few places. Every so often I jump out of Eric and follow one of the good walking tracks give to the most spectacular attractions of the forest: the giant trees named Tane Mahuta, Te Matua Ngahere, Four Sisters, and the Yakas Tree. 

The walk is a short loop that takes you through kauri and rimu vegetation to see the 'Four Sisters', an impressive stand of four tall and graceful kauri trees growing extremely close together. The short walk takes me under cooling shade of the forest canopy to the majestic Tane Mahuta, New Zealand's largest living kauri tree. Not far into the walk, a sweeping corner of the track suddenly brings me face to face with the ‘Lord of the Forest’. When I catch my first breath-taking view of this magnificent tree, I pause for a while to appreciate its overwhelming size that makes visitors look like ants.