Words cannot convey the scale of a view that is so stunning it is felt.
The Luminaries – Eleanor Catton
East coast for peninsula beaches, coastal walks, and climbs. West for ancient GIANT trees. Words fail…the images remain.
2 spectacular tracks: Mahinepua Peninsula and St. Paul’s Rock
Mahinepua Peninsula – Coastal Spectacular
Forty minutes north of Kerikeri is the most beautiful NZ walking track. The track begins at a pā, a historic Māori defensive settlement, with 270 box steps, on the ridge track.
Pā Site 
The reward!
St. Paul’s Rock at Whangaroa – Cool Climb!
North of Kerikeri about 30 minutes is a 600 meter climb above the town of Whangaroa (fahn-a-row-uh). The harbor is a jewel in the middle of multiple bays and beaches.
Beaches
Mangonui Cable Bay “almost pink” sand
Mangonui Coopers Beach – golden sand, pohutukawa trees – 2.5 km stroll
Karikari Peninsula – white sandy beaches and bays. The name means “good natured, friendly and kind”.
Karikari Vineyard 
Hokianga Harbor (Northland’s West Coast)
Signal Station Track and Waimamaku Coastal Tracks
A short walk from the carpark to the lookout at Signal Station. The Waimamaku Coastal Track branches off the Signal Station track and heads down the open coast with some climbs onto bluffs and small headlands. Lots of beaches and cliffs – with exceptional view of Hokianga Harbour and the Tasman Sea.
(my walk was rained out, but it is crazy beautiful)
Kauri Trees – Oldest, Massive and Disappearing
The Kauri forests, unique to Northland, were mostly destroyed for farmland. Today the occasional stands of trees left standing by the settlers (e.g. Waipoua and Pokita Kauri Forests) are under threat from Kauri Dieback Disease, a microscopic spore in the soil that infects the shallow roots, spread by a pinhead of soil. There is no cure, once infected there is no stopping the death of the tree. The only way to save kauri is to clean shoes and gear and stay off kauri roots.
- Largest known Kauri, Tane Mahuta – Lord of the Forest, age – 2000 years, Ht 169 ft; Girth 45 ft
- Te Matua Ngahere – Father of the Forest, age, 1500 . Ht 98 ft; Girth 54 ft
Tane Mahuta 
Te Matua Ngahere 
A dying tree 
Pouketi Forest 
Puketi Forest – untouched by settlers 
Gum Diggers Park (Far Far North)
Not far from Cape Reinga are 2 ancient Kauri Forests buried by cataclysmic prehistoric events leaving globs of sticky gum in the soils and swamps.
From the 19th century Gum Diggers mined the tree gum (sap) from hand-dug gum pits that unearthed Kauri trees. Exported to make floor varnish, the pits were abandoned by the 1930s as cheaper materials were invented for making varnish.
Amber is hardened/fully fossilized Kauri gum.
100,000 years old 
Remains of a Kauri Stump – Resin evacuation site 
Hardened resin – Amber 
NZ protects and replants Kauri by tens of thousands in the north of North Island. There are still giants amongst us. If these old souls could talk.
Advice From A Tree
Stand tall and proud
Go out on a limb
Remember your roots
Drink plenty of water
Enjoy the view!
Ilan Shamir
Previous Northland (Winterless North) Posts
- Waitangi Treaty (Read Here)
- Cape Reinga (Read Here)
- Bay of Islands – Paihia, Opua, Russell, Kerikeri (Read Here)
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NORTH ISLAND ARCHIVE
North: Coromandel Seaside
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Northland: Paihia, Opua, Russell, Kerikeri
Northland – SO MUCH sensory overload. It takes me by surprise at every turn – and there are a lot of turns!
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Travel Broadly - Marlene & Steve 
So interesting about the kauri trees. While I knew about their vulnerability to disease, I did not know about the amber. It’s beautiful! Did you purchase a souvenir by chance?
The amber is beautiful ..the extraction process…was not cool. Yes. I bought a souvenir…it is a rough, unique gemstone, certified as 44,839 years old. One side is pretty polished, the other side left raw. My plan was to buy a nicer piece at the Kauri/Gum museum near Dargaville, but we never made it to that area. Ran out of time!