63 and free

Yesterday was full (yes, Bernie planned it). The morning saw us do a short hike up to the Arai Te Uru Nature Reserve and Signal Station Track for spectacular views of Hokianga Bay upon which sits Ōmōpere.

The afternoon was a bit slower. But the silhouette of this bench under a tree caught my attention. I bet a poet could find the words.

The evening was…incredible. We hooked up with a Maori touring company that gave us twilight access to the Waipoua Forest and the two largest trees in New Zealand.

Both are sacred to the Maori.

The largest is called “Tāne Mahuta”, or the “Lord of the Forest”. Like the Redwood, it was humbling to see. The Kauri tree (pronounced “Cody”), as we have tried to show, is a level above majestic.

Our Maori guide, Merepaea, was a gentle, beautiful person with a gift for conveying her culture to our small group. Standing before Tāne Mahuta, she asked for a moment of silence for our ancestors and for those that have recently passed. They are part of who we are.

Bernie and I kept thinking of “The Home Tree” in Avatar.

After the moment, she sang a Maori song of respect and love. For personal reasons I asked her to give us a verse while I videoed Tāne Mahuta:

Then we moved onto “Te Matua Ngahere”, or the “Father of the Forest”. Although a little smaller than Tāne Mahuta, it is 1500 years older…it germinated ~3500 years ago! Or, to put it into perspective, about 170 years before King Tut (Tutankhamun) came to power.

And of course Merepaea brought out the goofball: