Feb 20, 2026 On the way to Omapere and Tane Mahuta
We rose before dawn for a long day of travel. We stopped on the pier in Paihia for a view of the rising sun reflecting on the marlin sculpture. 
We continued from Paihia west onto Hwy 12 across the long northern peninsula of the North Island, from the South Pacific side towards the Tasman Sea side of New Zealand. Our goal was to explore some of the Waipoua Forest along the northwest coast, a remnant of the ancient subtropical rainforest that once covered the Northland Peninsula. It is the home of Tāne Mahuta, one of the largest trees on earth and the largest kauri tree in NZ. It is an integral part of Māori mythology, the son of Ranginui (sky father) and Papatūānuku (earth mother). He was the child who, with his stout legs, separated his parents from their tight embrace, creating space between them, letting in light and thus allowing life to thrive in the forest to adorn his mother with natural beauty.
We listened in to a wonderful guide describing the story of Tāne Mahuta and of the surrounding forest. We continued our walk through the forest of giant kauri trees.
Look closely at the middle left picture of Robert walking on the boardwalk to see the scale of these giants! Unfortunately they are threatened by a tiny microorganism that can be spread in soil and cause kauri dieback disease, which we saw evidence of by the white, barkless skeletons of dead kauri. 