Shade

I woke when the heat through the tent became too much for me! It was a lovley blue sky day so, after I'd had breakfast, packed up the tent and sat in the sun a while I headed down for a walk along Bayly's Beach. What a stunner! The surfies obviously were expecting some good breaks as they gathered in ever growing numbers and the surf did look quite speactacular. I decided then I'd head north through the Waipoua Forest. Without going in to too many details, the ancient forests were amazing - Tane Mahuta ("The Lord of the Forest") is reckoned to be over 2000 years old. That makes him older than our modern civilisation.........hard to comprehend. At a mere 50-odd metres he's not as tall as the Californian Redwoods but his girth is awesome...literally! At 13.8 metres......that's about 8 people holding hands in a circle...that's one H-U-G-E trunk!!

I crossed the Hokianaga Harbour on the car ferry which has to be THE best value at just $14 for me and my car. The trip was about 10-15 minutes and gave some stunning views of the Harbour and the area surrounding it. Just beautiful!

Am staying in Ahipara tonight which I remember as a quiet little backwater when I came here many years ago. So much for the price of progress! The settlement is way bigger, the people far more numerous and the campsite is teeming with people! I think I need to stay away from these larger sites if I want a quite holiday!

Today's shot is a view of part of the forest canopy which provided some welcome relief from the sunshine today.

Overspill pics