Yesterday was
Waitangi Day, and we
arrived in Waitangi the day after the holiday to celebrate the treaty between
the British and the Maori tribes.
Our
tender port wharf was at
Paihia.
I took a forest tour today, and I learned more about the
flora and fauna of New Zealand. We
traveled quite a distance from our tender port.
I saw sheep, cattle, vineyards, kiwi and other fruit farms. Beautiful is the only word that can be used
to describe this part of northern New Zealand.
The main purpose of this tour was to visit the
Puketi Forest for a nature
walk.
I learned a great deal more about
the native forests of New Zealand and the efforts to preserve them.
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| The Bay of Islands was a tender port, and we used the wharfs at Paihia. |
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| This was one of the views of an island from our ship anchored in the bay. |
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| We arrived the day following the Waitangi Day celebration. This treaty was between the British and the native people (Maori), and is similar to our July 4 in the USA. |
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| I took a tour with 13 folks to a former cattle ranch for tea. We were to take a walking tour of the Puketi Forest. |
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| These rolling hills of the 1500 acre farm were once grazed by cattle. |
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| The Puketi Forest is being preserved, and the native Kiwi Bird is being allowed to grow in number by protective laws. |
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| Our guide, a former cattle farmer, loves sharing information about the flora and fauna of the forest preserve. |
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| Kauri trees were deforested in order to provide lumber. They are now protected. These trees become the highest/largest in the forest, but are still smaller than Redwoods of California. |
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| The natural beauty of these northern islands in New Zealand abounds. |
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| Another view from the ship. We were surrounded by islands of distinct beauty. |
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| This view is from the aft of the ms Amsterdam. |
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| We made a quick stop to see the Haruru Falls on our way back to Paihia. |
