A Forest*

In the afternoon we took a picnic and headed for the west coast (North Island) is quite narrow up here. At first the scenery was very pastoral and could have been Hobbiton in the Shire. Gradually the mountains began to rise and the tree cover became thicker (a bit like the woods in The Hobbit where Tom Bombadil lived but we can’t remember the name). We reached our destination of the Waipoua Kauri Forest where three-quarters of all the surviving mature kauri trees grow. The Kauri ranks alongside the sequoias as one of the largest trees in existence. Individual trees can live over 2000 years, reaching 50 metres in height and 20 metres in girth. The Maori used mature trees for their war canoes but when the Europeans arrived they felled the trees in large numbers to make sailing ships. We did three walks to see some of the larger trees including New Zealand’s mightiest, the 2000 year old Tane Mahuta (Lord of the Forest) it rises 18 metres to the lowest branches which are covered in epiphytes. The other walks took us past numerous big trees to Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) the second largest tree and finally onto the ‘Four Sisters’ relatively slender kauri all growing close together. We are sure the Ents in the Lord of the Rings film were based on these trees. The walks through the forest were interspersed with very thick undergrowth and magnificent tree ferns as well as a large variety of ground growing ferns.
Tasted a number of different wines before, during and after dinner. Tasting notes: they’re nishe, vewy nishe.