Bay of Islands

The Maori people consider Bay of Islands on the north east tip of the north island "the birthplace of New Zealand." This is where the Maori from other south pacific islands settled. The area is so named because it encompasses 144 islands between Cape Brett and the Purerea region.    

We woke up to another beautiful day and tendered in to a pier bordered by beautiful sand beaches.  There we boarded a bus to take us to "the forest".


We drove through very productive farm land producing citrus, kiwi, avocados , macadamia nuts, hay, corn and grassy fields for dairy and beef cattle, sheep and horses.  The climate is perfect for farming with temperatures in the winter of 9 - 10 C (48-50 F) and in the summer of 34-35 C (93-95 F) with plenty of rain making the countryside lush and green.  Suddenly we arrived at a subtropical rain forest - The Maningenangina Scenic Preserve . A boardwalk winds through a mature stand of kauri, swamp forests and giant ferns.

Kauri are among the world's largest trees, reaching heights of 50 m (165 feet)). The circumference reaches 16 metres (52 feet).  They are coniferous trees which live for 2000 years.  We stood in the presence of trees that were growing here before any human inhabited this land.

Our next stop was at the Kawiti Glow Worm Caves.  We were not able to take pictures in the caves as the worms stop glowing for a couple of hours when exposed to light.  The cave is limestone and sandstone with numerous stalactites and stalagmites.  The glow worms secrete a hollow tube attached to the roof of the cave.  They then secrete lines of sticky saliva hanging down from the tube which trap flying insects like mosquitoes, moths, midges, and mayflies.  The worm then sucks up its prey like eating a piece of spaghetti.

We did not take this picture - it was found on the internet.  It gives an idea of the beauty of the cave.