Tane Mahuta

Lord of the Forest to you and me. Now which is the oldest, Tony or the Magnificent Kauri tree? Tane Mahuta is the oldest by quite a few years, probably about 2000! It is the largest living Kauri tree in New Zealand with a trunk height of 17.7m and a girth of 13.8m!

We had a day of many, many miles in the van with stops to view these very special trees and the extremely amazing Kauri Museum which is an absolute must for anyone doing this trip.

We drove from Ninety Mile Beach to our freedom camping ground on the Thames Bay, East Coast Road, called Ray's Rest. Due to horrendous traffic through Auckland, the most traffic we had seen in a week, we didn't arrive at the shore campground until dark was falling. Thankfully it was a spacious campsite as it was 'busy' with several juggernaut motor homes with satellite dishes et al. Our little van found a place just above the shoreline composed almost entirely of shells, so we went to sleep to the sound of the high tide lapping the shore just below our wheels. The mountains of the west coast of the Coromandel Peninsula could be seen in the fading light, our destination for tomorrow.