BLOG POST 10
We began our first day of travel in Auckland, Tony
started with a Kia Ora and made us practice it several times till our ears
started ringing with the sound and then there were several ground rules laid
down by him
First was adherence to time, the 6,7 and 8 formula as we used
to call it ,6 AM wake up call, 7 AM bags out and 8 AM start of journey after
having breakfast ,lunch would be whenever and wherever we stopped which was usually
around 12 noon or 1 pm, we had to feed ourselves ,name badges were compulsory as
they were the proofs for entry into all places.
Evening 6 to 7 pm were happy hours where the tourists
would get drinks at slightly discounted rates in the restaurant of whichever
hotel we would put up for that night, the happy hours were relatively unhappy
hours for us as I don’t drink liquor and my husband was a very light drinker,
after 7 pm we would all go in for dinner everyday which would be buffet
sometimes and 3 courses menu served at
the table some nights
The most important rule was that , while we were seated in the bus we had to compulsorily wear seat belts even in the last row as, if we
are found without a seat belt the fine would be 150 dollars, Tony said it was
up to us if we wanted to spend our entire tour money on paying fines !
The next rule was that we had to follow the leader that
is the tour guide and be on time whenever we stop anywhere, delay by one member
would lead to complete disruption of the schedule for entire day
Tony would also regularly give us weather report of next
day so that we would be geared up in proper attire as New Zealand is well known
for its changing weather conditions ,Tony also said that he would be with us
through out the tour and be responsible for behind the scenes’ nuts and bolts’ which was
indeed very assuring for all of us
As the bus started I could see excitement on everyone’ s
faces ,we were the only Indians ,others were mostly from Australia ,2 couples
from U.K and one couple from Canada, everyone were middle aged and we were sure
we would form a good team quickly.
As the bus went along Tony and Megan pointed out the most
important land mark of Auckland the sky tower,few of our members had come 1 or
2 days prior and could do sky walk which they said was very exciting ,Tony
circulated the optional tour booking sheet as he said it would get very crowded
next day
The first stop was Parry Kauri Park,
As soon as we
got off our bus, we could see a magnificent Kauri tree standing proudly erect –this
was the McKinney Kauri about 800 years old,we all walked along the
wooden walkways as instructed and had a
look at the Kauri tree, surroundings were so serene ,not many tourists around ,could
hear birds singing a welcome song for us
Those who had time for a guided
nature trail, could do it on elevated walkway, circle around trees from the
west end to the east end,armed with with signage and a pamphlet about the bush
plants. In the forest were numerous small Kauri seedlings, only a few feet
tall.
There was a small Museum with
displays of the Kauri digging implements, photographs of gum-digging, giant
pieces of Kauri gum, saws, native timber, bushman’s hut and other items
connected with the gum digging days. On the far side of the car park there
was a “whim”, which was used to haul the log
There is was a second large Kauri a few yards
west of the McKinney Kauri, named Simpson Kauri, after the second owner of the
property.
Kauri
trees once covered large expanses of New Zealand and were known as "the
kings of the forest". Agathisaustralis, commonly known by its Māori name Kauri,
is a coniferous tree of Araucariaceae,found in New Zealand's North Island
.
Maori used large trees to carve out their’
wakas ‘ or war canoes which could hold in excess of 100 warriors, carving and for building houses.The trunk of mature trees rise straight with very
little taper to the upper relatively small canopy and can be more than 18
metres to the first branches, Gum was used as a fire starter and for chewing like bubble gum(after it had been soaked in
water and mixed with the milk of the puha plant).
When Europeans first arrived in the
Northland, they found lush forests of
kauri trees that blanketed the hills leading down to shoreline. Entire trees
were tragically felled for ship masts, everything from homes to ornate
furniture was constructed from kauri hardwood. . They also discovered that the
tree produced a valuable gum resin, which was exported and used for high grade
varnishes and linolium
Alas! harvest began
and when it was over, the kauri forests and the land were decimated. In
the 1800s, kauri timber and gum built Auckland, Whangarei and was also exported
to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake. Stripped land was turned
into farmland and soon agriculture overtook the kauri as New Zealand’s main
export.
However William
Roy McGregor (1894-1977) from Auckland University in 1952 came in the form of savior for the trees and successfully
campaigned and created the Waipoua Forest Sanctuary,
Once-thriving
kauri industry left remnants of the kauri dams. Kauri driving dams were built
by loggers to drive large quantities of kauri logs downstream from remote
areas. It was so astonishing to hear from Megan that to avoid transporting of
these huge timber, dams were built which were able to withstand the pressure of
tonnes of water and kauri logs which were swept through with tremendous force
when the dam was tripped.
Now
these magnificent Kauri are facing a new
threat. Kauri die back is a fungus-type of disease, which has no cure but its spread
can be reduced by cleaning boots and equipment and avoiding stepping on Kauri
tree roots
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