New Zealand: The North Island
Note: The New Zealand Travelogue series is from a tour Lynn and I made just before Christmas 2009. First posted live to Facebook it is being reposted here along with more photographs taken during the trip.
We have been told that New Zealand is a kaleidoscope of ever-changing scenes and our first three days touring the coastal route north from Auckland to Paihia, then across the top to the West Coast and Tasman Sea, provides ample confirmation.
Along the “car rally” coastal route, new and stunning vista’s greet us as we round each curve and top each hill. Finding a safe place to stop to grab a few pictures is a challenge as their are few road-side view points. Even at that, Lynn is beginning to think I am going to wear out my camera before we even get started. It is indeed a good thing I bought that extra 8 gig card and spare battery.
Along the east coast we see the first samples of lush tropical vegitation that we discover covers much of New Zealand and as we approach Paihia, the South Pacific to the east is filled with thousands of Islands. We could not find a viewpoint at the highest points so grabbed one photo from the Web to give you a sense of the sights we see in an area called the “Bay of Islands”” (Opening Photo of this Post)
As we circle west and cross the Ialand, we continue through rolling farmland before breaking out on the Tasman Coast where we are greeted by sand blows and beaches that show on the map to continue for 100 miles along the west side of the Island. As we have just finished touring along a 1000 miles of coastline in Queensland and New South Wales, we opt to circle south and head back down to Auckland and Rotorua rather than take the beach road north. Even though we only touched a bit of the beach area, we obersved a few abandoned vehicles locked in the sand and destined to become reefs at some point in the future. The warnings were clear, use the beach route at your own risk.
On our way south we spend time in one of the few remaining Kauri Forests and stand beside the largest Kauri tree in existence. It is hard to get a picture of this tree that will do it justice and it is amazing to learn the Maori used to carve sea going boats out of single tree such as this. In the slideshow below, if you look carefully in the undergrowth below the tree you will see Lynn and Harold waving.
Further south as we again enter farmland, we chanced to meet up with a farmer who has worked these rolling hills for nearly 80 years. He is more than will to stop and chat and his diminutive build and easy going style, reminds me so much of my Uncle Ned. I suspect, this older gentleman, as with Uncle Ned, will remain in this farm tending his animals until the day he passes to the great beyond.
Harold
Orewa, NZ, 2009
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