Wednesday, April 3 - Sand, water and trees

   

We had fried eggs for breakfast ...

... then we headed out to the giant sand dunes so Diana could go surfing.

Using one of the old bogey boards, she tried going down seated, which
didn't work too well

The forward prone position was a bit better, but it sure isn't like snow
sledding

The blowing sand carved interesting formations into this old foot print

We left the dunes, then drove for awhile before crossing a river on this
small ferry

We thought these would be good additions to Kris's boat yard

The most extensive stands of Kauri trees is along the west coast of Northland.

This kauri has the largest trunk of them all, 18.5 feet
in diameter.  That's a big tree!

The trees are so strangely shaped, the  huge trunk
having very little taper,  then ending in relatively
small branches at the top

    That night we stayed at a DOC campground located in a kauri forest.  After dinner we went out at dark to  see if we could find, or hear, kiwis. Because the area has been protected from predators for almost 50 years it's one of the best chances to find the elusive birds.  We went out on a trail with red cellophane covering our headlamps, and stealthily walked through the woods.  We did see glow worms and heard a few other night birds, but failed in our attempt to discover any kiwi birds.  And with that last chance, it's probably official, no in-the-wild kiwi encounters.