Day 53 - An Excursion to the West Coast
So today I went early in the morning with my new friend to take a trip to the West coast of New Zealand. I took plenty of pictures of what I thought were neat sites, but I could not capture the splendid nature of everything that I saw. You can see them in my gallery.
We drove a little ways seeing the countryside and the different isthmus' created. It was a wonderful site. Now I could not give you the exact directions of how we got to where we went, but I can give you the names and you can draw your own map. You're welcome.
The first stop was Muriwai Regional Park. This place is famous for the breeding grounds for a large amount of Tākapu (or the Gannet). They are a large seabird that migrates from Australia to New Zealand during this time of year. Below is a picture of them on a cliff.
We then drove to see a large Kauri tree that is predicted to be over 800 years old in Warkworth, New Zealand. These are the largest tree in New Zealand and have been suspected to be around the time of the Jurassic Period. I guess the Kauri tree was used for lumber and to make the large amounts of homes and ships in New Zealand. Their gum (fossilized resin) was also used for varnish. Further, much likely not known during the early years, the Kauri tree is one of the best at capturing carbon in the world. For these reasons (possibly) it is the national tree.
The area in Warkworth also was home to a cool museum, that we did not really go in and check out. There are pictures in the gallery. There are models of old-style telephone booths, jails, and soldier cabins. It was pretty neat to see how people lived 100 years ago.
After this we went and seen another shop/museum about the honey industry in New Zealand. Supposedly, as I also heard on the radio, this honey, called manuka, is world famous and does wonders for your body (it has antibacterial properties or something), let alone tasting good. It can go for around $160 a bottle, and I tasted it, that sweat, sweat expensive honey. In the shop they had a hive with a window, so you could see all of the live honey bees doing their thing in their home(s). Talk about a lack of privacy.
Part of the trip was just driving around the countryside and talking. We stopped at a few places, having local craft beer and food, and saw some pretty cool bodies of water that I cannot name due to not speaking Maori and a lack of memory. Overall it was a great time seeing parts of the country I may not have otherwise. I thank my friend.
