Tane Mahuta

... or also known as "Lord of the Forest". Home to some of the oldest trees on the planet and also the first settling of the Maori's in NZ. This particular one is estimated to be somewhere between 1200 and 2000 years old. It has a big brother (Te Matua Ngahere) in some regards not far away which we went and saw during the night for extra special effect along with our tour guide who held a poetic license for the Maori's traditions surrounding these trees. Without license I think it was 2000-3000, with I think it was around 4000-5000.

The next morning some of us ventured off for a day at Jim and Charlotte's where Jim showed us how to do bone carving. If you're going to do it, this is the place. None of the get 'em in and out, this is a day of take your time along every step of the process and whenever you need an expert opinion on the next step, Jim is right there to make sure that what you've just conjured up in your imagination appears in a three dimensional bit of bone. A special thanks too for Charlotte's lunch and nibblies all day long, and to Murray the bus driver for the tip on where to go.

After another comfy night out at the Globetrekkers, I got on the bus here for Auckland. If I'd studied the timetable a bit better I would've realised I should have stayed there another night and checked out some of the forest walks, as there isn't another bus out of Auckland until Monday to head back towards the South Island.

A view overlooking the town of Oponini, where you need to bring some cash... no ATMs
Interestingly Orca's play around in this harbour too, although apparently they leave the humans alone.

Back to Auckland we go and its Mike's (the bus driver) idea to have a quiz on the way back to help pass the time as it gets a bit unusually drab for NZ for a while. Most of us initially opt out, but everyone it seems chips in a with a question because there were 19 of us and we had 29 questions and the questions gathered some interest and the momentum increased. It seemed a team effort was the go, and Ogi (a more experienced traveller who has the traveling thing a bit more sorted having home in three different countries) and I came in first to scoop the price. Unfortunately, while Mike was in getting the ice cream, Ogi ventured off before claiming the spoils, so guess who got that one.