---
layout: post
title: "Whangarei & Tutukaka"
category: [Aotearoa]
date: 2021-11-03 21:25:00 +0200
---
A short several hour bus drive north of Auckland lay the medium township of Whangarei - one of the last bastions of the mighty Kaori, and gateway to the Poor Knights Islands.
White-naped Petrel in flight in Tutukaka bay.
Whangarei (pronounced Fangarei - Wh is F in Te Reo - as I learned from the amused bus driver when boarding for 'Pangarei'. Yikes.). Wait. Anyway.
Whangarei is not a typical stop on the route of most backpackers (defenitley not the 'Hummus Trail' of Israeli backpackers), who head straight up north to the Bay of Islands. Myself, however, keen to visit every nook and cranny in Aotearoa I could easily reach, opted for a few daysen-route north - and I'm very glad I did.
I arrived dressed for cold weather from southen Auckland - I have yet to wrap my head around the idea it gets *warmer* up north and *colder* down south in this side of the world (a mistake I thankfully did not repeat in Aotearoa's deep south). I had also stupidly decided to arrive on a Sunday - during which I did not recall had no public transport whatsoever. Add that to my insistence on booking a hostel just on the outskirts of town, and that all makes for a rough, sweaty Sunday morning.
As soon as I accepted my fate of walking two hours uphill to my hostel, a nice couple with a pickup truck offered my a ride, which I politely declined.
'Nonsense! it's a really long walk! hop on in, we'll show you around!'
We took a drive around town, and these kind folk made sure to show me everything - where to get groceries, which bus to take, and how to reach local hotpots.
'Imagine if you'd gone all that uphill!' The lady told me, smiling. They finally dropped me off and offered my fresh pizza, which I politely declined.
That's Kiwi hospitality for you!
My hostel lay next to the Whangarei falls and the forest - which I eagerly went off too as soon as I got settled, as that was something I had really looked into from my research back home.
All around the township of Whangarei lay a special type of forest - a Kaori forest. The Kaori is a *dinosaur tree* - an old, now rare organism of great beauty. Kaoris are mildly basic - and as they shed bark and leaves the ground becomes basic as well, denying other trees and enriching new Kaoris. The forests they inhabit are interspread with grouping of young Kaori around an elder tree amongst clumps of hardy ferns, trees, and tree ferns.
Being rare and relatively slow growing, Kaori forest are surrounded by lush Kiwi bush, at the heart of which lay the Kaori heartlands - traversing these phases is quite the experience.
In most of Whangarei, you're no further than a five minute walk from sights such as these.
After the rough, unformed terrain of Rangitoto just a day prior, the rich forest of Whangarei presents a whole different light. The sun slits softly through rich canopy, the leaves of low ferns are damp and a soft breeze whistles through the trees. The tranquility in these woods is captivating.
My hostel was a mere five minutes from Whangarei Falls - a magnificent gateway to the Kaori heartlands. At the end of each day, you can simply opt for a short walk through nature and circle back to the falls - a priviledge I remember fondly to this day. How strange it was to walk around gob-smacked with my camera and make way for runners out and about their day, and emerge from the woods to families laying the meadow, eating and laughing. What a life!
I really enjoyed slipping into my sneakers and coming here to read a good book as the sun set. When I could no longer read clearly in the fading light - I would turn back.
Once you wander deep enough into the forest, you'll encounter a fence, alongside a carpet and a spray bottle to disinfect your shoes - the Kaori are suspectpable to a fungus which grows outside, and so you sanitize before entering. This was a local act of pride - under the slogan 'Save our Kaori!'. How kind!
And finally, you are under the canopy of the elders. You are in a Kaori forest.
Pictured here are a pair of young Kaoris. Old Kaoris grow over 50 meters tall and live for hundreds of years!
The Kaoris have a special, flaky tri-colored bark and small, matted round-ish leaves. The bark looks a bit porous and the proportions just seem 'off' - these trees are further down the evolutionary path than most you might encounter.
Close-up of a bark of an older Kaori tree. Moss grows sporadically on the bark giving them a spotted appearance.
The Kaori were once spread accross most of Aotearoa, throughout the North Island and the northern regions of the South Island as well. They were prized by the Maori as wood for their Wakas - the shipwrights would often hollow a pair of trunks, tie them elaborately toghether with rope made from native flax ( *Harakeke* in Te Reo) and treated with salt water. The results were long, water-tight great Wakas used for travel, hunting and war parties.
The colonizers from England ( *Pakeha* ) valued the Kaori for its' beautiful, hard sap, as well as wood for luxury furniture - the forest were logged extensively and the prized wood and sapped exported throughout Europe. The results of both uses were devastating; less than 1% of the original Kaori forest remains, all in the northen reaches of the North island.
Standing under something so old, so rare and endangered really helps things sink in perspective.
Also abundant in the forest is the Silver Fern, New Zealand's national emblem. These ferns look like any other - until you flip the underside to see it completely silver!
The Maori hunters considered the ferns a gift - under the light of the moon, they would flip some of the leaves and find their way home after a long voyage of foraging.
The name suits them better than you might think - they are quite silver.
I stayed for a relatively long time in Whangarei - about as much as I have in Auckland - and much of that time was spent in the forests and gorgeous meadows around it.
The climb to Mount Parihaka ( *War Dance* ), where the Kaoris hold the higher ranges and relegate the rest to the bush.
Once the site of a large Maori settlement ( *pa* ), today a WWII memorial sits atop the mountain and glows red at night - visible in Whangarei itself.
A *Manuka* bush, common throughout New Zealand. The honey made from the Manuka is a prized delicacy.
The travellers that do end up in Whangarei usually stop by for a different reason - the Tutukaka Coast.
About an hour off the shore of the small, colorful township of Tutukaka lay a site of magnificent beauty - the Poor Knights Islands. I had long anticipated snorkeling there, and managed to secure an amazingly clear day for it.
I booked a shuttle to the Tutukaka coast with a kind, happy local gentleman - and we had a wonderful conversation about the area, life, New Zealanders, Israelis and Kiwi fruit.
'The people are not named after the fruit!' he told me passionately.
> 'The fruit is named after us!'. He thumped his chest with his fist proudly. ' *We* are the Kiwis! '.
He shared the sweetest stories about growing up in rural New Zealand, and all the little tidbits to go with it - which season the Kiwis ripen, how they celebrate Veteran's day, the red light in Parihaka, and many amazing insights of daily light. He even went out of his way to contact the folks I was set to set off to the islands with so I can get there easily. Man, Kiwi hospitality is the best.
The Poor Knights are a famous international diving spot, rich with sealife - a magnificent kelp forest lays at the waters around the island, and the waters teem with fish, seals and doplhins. Snorkeling in the Poor Knights was utterly unlike anything I've seen or done before.
Off we go!
First, the water was *cold*. **Really** cold. The only prior experience I had is in Eilat's Red sea, which as always warm - that was quite a shock!
Second - it is open water. The islands are *way* out there, and unlike the Red Sea's sheltered bay, the cold, cold ocean will swallow you up in a fraction of a moment if you're not vigilangt.
And finally, as soon as you gather the courage to dip your head in, you feel as if you're in a different galaxy.
Small, blue lumiscent motes float around in the water, which you can see with unbelieveable clarity - alongside the schools of fish scurrying in and out of small caverns, sealife sweeping through the rich kelp forests, sponges on the seabed, and the waves crashing and bubbling against the island's rock. Unusual, colourful fish swim around you, and there are many little nooks and crannies in the island's layout you can explore - which give respite from the strong, open ocean currents. As soon as you start drifting too far from the island, the wrath of the cold sea starts seeping into you, threatening to carry you away. And when that happens (as you pursue some fascinating thing swimming away), you'll be glad to find shelter amongst the rocks.
Can you tell where the sea ends and the skies began? The tranquil sea goes on and on and on, forever. Imaging drifting helplessly in *that*.
Snorkeling was seriously difficult - much more taxing than I had imagined, and it took every bit of my strengh to keep on exploring. At one point, turning around towards the boat to find my bearings, I found myself face to face with a *massive* seal!
Altought probably just curious, the seals look suprisingly threatning up close!
It was amazing listening to the wail of the waves crashing against the coast, watching flocks of seabirds fly overhead, and then sink down into the cold, blue alien world below. It was an experience I will never forget.
My excitment was shared by my peers that day, all experienced divers - and what struck me is how the guides, who'd been on site hunderds of time, were just as excited and amazed as I was. They later told me they've done this for years and years, and the sense of unearthly wonder never fades away.
Life is probably not easy living rural and on lower pay - but getting to experience something like that so often? that is something I think about every now and again to this day.
Many seabirds make their way onto the islands, and stay there alone - Poor Knights is a marine reserve, and almost no one is allowed onto the islands.
Also on Poor Knights is Rikoriko cave, one of the largest seacaves in the world. Acoustics in the cave are great - our guide played a cheery flute to demonstrate!
It's quite massive - this is on a two-level boat, mind you.
I enjoyed an amazingly clear day on my excursion. Lucky!
And finally, Whangarei was also my first contact with the Kiwi's national icon - the Kiwi.
Whangarei has a Kiwi house, and I even managed to snatch a grainy, offputting picture of one!
The special Kiwi house flips the day/night cycle for them - it is pitch dark, lit red (which the near-blind Kiwis cannot see), and absolutely no light or sound is allowed to avoid disturbing them.
Whangarei has been a surprise hit in my journey and one of my very favorites spots. I'm very glad I got to experience it.