Tane Mahuta is one of the things on James bucket list and was his first pick of things to do in Northland. Tane Mahuta sits proudly in the Waipoua Forest and is the largest Kauri tree – standing at 51.5 metres tall.
It was supposed to be our first stop, arriving at 12 but we took a fair few detours and ended up there closer to 3pm. This was one thing we didn’t want to rush though so we took our time.
The first thing that really impressed me was the cleaning stations outside to try and help prevent the spread of Kauri Dieback. It was an impressive set up and felt right that so much was being done to protect a national treasure.
In the spirit of pure enterprising genius there is also a coffee cart over the road (it’s a long time between coffees on this stretch of the road).
It’s a very short walk to Tane Mahuta from the road and suitable for buggies. There is a guide at the base of the tree who told us, among other things, about the other trees nestled in her crown that are growing up there.
There are two viewing platforms – the first and closest has the guide. The second one was actually our favourite because you could take in the full scale of Tane Mahuta.
I suspected that this was something that the kids would drag their feet through with a “if I must” look plastered across their faces but they genuinely enjoyed it. The walk there was easy and fun and Tane Mahuta was just so huge it was hard not to be inspired. There was also a spiritual feeling that enveloped all of us with our youngest stopping before we left to blow good wishes to Tane Mahuta.
