Spoiled by California?

This morning we took a half day cruise around the Bay of Islands. While the Bay of Islands was beautiful, we didn't think it was a "must-see" like the guidebook said. Maybe it's because we're spoiled by the California coastline, which we see on a regular basis.

One of highlights of the cruise was cruising through the Hole in the Rock at Percy Island. The other was finding several pods of bottlenose dolphins playing in the bay. Getting up-close and watching the dolphins frolic was definitely more interesting than passing through the Hole in the Rock. There were probably a dozen or more dolphins in the bay, including a couple of baby dolphins. Our captain thought one of the babies was only a few hours old. We weren’t able to get into the water and swim with the dolphins because there were baby dolphins in the pod. Otherwise, we could’ve slipped on a wet suit and flippers and swam with the dolphins.

Once back to port, we gassed up the car and headed out for the Waipoua Kauri Forest. If you think gas is expensive in California, try $6.80/gallon here! Granted it is 91 octane…but still…$6.80/gal?! (BTW, they also have 98 octane for $0.40/gal more).

We decided to visit the kauri forest because neither one of us knew what a kauri tree looked like. And kauri trees seemed like a big deal in Maori culture. We soon discovered what’s so special about the kauri tree. They’re BIG! I’m talking redwood trees big. They’re not as tall as redwood trees, but they’re definitely wider than redwood trees. Tane Mahuta (lord of the forest), is 51.5m high (a little over 150 ft) with a circumference of 13.8m wide (about 50 ft). It’s estimated to be Tane Mahuta sprang from seed around 2000 years ago. We were impressed by these giant kauri trees and wondered if they were the inspiration for the tree people in the Lord of the Rings.