Waipoua Kauri Forest, North Island, New Zealand

August 2015

The Waipoua Kauri Forest is situated on the west coast of the north island of New Zealand in a region just north of Auckland referred to as Northland. So it’s certainly northern. It was also the first stop along our initial road trip as we made our eventual way down to Dunedin, a small university town on the south island and perhaps our temporary home while in New Zealand. In a area where most topography has been deforested in order to make way for far-reaching grazing lands, the Kauri Forest is a rare piece of conserved topography, bringing to light what much of the Northland could have looked like before it was developed. 

Given its subtropical climate it looks much like what a forest in a subtropical climate would. Ferns cover the forest ground as taller palms stretch to the halfway mark of taller and taller trees. Vines seem to hang from unseen places like the end of rainbows and bird impressions are heard often accompanied by the sound of moving water. But what makes these forests special are the massive Kauri trees, with scaled bark and tall bare trunks stretching up to branches that form their own mini forest atop all others. Their circumference can be larger than their trunk height and, in my own mismatched way of making sense of things, remind me of a strange offspring between a sequoia tree and a eucalyptus tree. If I were to go further into my own perceptions on a geekier level, I'd also venture to say they must have been the natural inspiration for the forests of Lothlorien in The Fellowship of the Ring. 

There are a number of different walks ranging in length and location within the Waipoua Forest, all branching off from State Highway 12. The Yakas Kauri walk, the Four Sisters walk, and the Te Matua Ngahere walk are all located along the same main trail and allow you to get a good sense of the Kauri trees' varying sizes as well as the nature of the Waipoua forest in general. The three trails lead to their own main features, each having its own distinct feel while all enjoying pockets of falling sunlight between high up canopies, fresh cool air seemingly made cleaner just for you, and, given the time of year, trails largely left for us alone. These trees are said to be deeply rooted in the spiritual lore of the Maori—Te Matua Ngahere literally means ‘Father of the Forest’—and as you walk past as well as gaze at them from a distance you certainly can understand why. Something on the one hand makes you feel as though they were present at our creation, and on the other as though they are from another world entirely.