A Day of Contrasts

Today is Waitangi Day, and the Maori are speaking about protecting the land and the forests not just for their people but for all New Zealanders. We drove north this morning flanked on either side of the road by cows and sheep dotting the hills and valleys. Few trees are left standing, having been cleared for agricultural purposes over hundreds of years. The winding roads took us north to 90 Mile Beach where for as far as you can see in either direction are golden sands and the crashing waves of the green Tasman Sea. There were surfers out riding the first waves of the day. We then made our way south along the windy two lane highway and one lane bridges to the Waipoa Forest. We tramped through Fangorn like forests in awe of the magestic, mammoth Kauri trees. Some of these trees are 2000 years old and unimaginably huge. Their trunks are like cement and the branches which grow out of the top at about 20 metres high are like large trees unto themselves. The trunks of two oldest ones are about 17 metres in diametre! The Maori Wakas are carved out of these trees. The forest underbrush is dense with ferns on steroids, palms of every variety - both bush and trees, malaleuca and New Zealand Christmas trees. We could hear the song of a variety of birds, even wild parrots. New Zealand is mostly a rural country with the most people, 1.5 million, living in Auckland. We see few chain restaurants, motels or businesses. Tonight we are staying in the Warkworth Cottage, a large Victorian style Hotel built in 1908. The ceilings are 20 feet high yet the door knobs are only 2 feet from the floor. We have to bend down to open the doors. Hmmm maybe Hobbits really did live here!