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Waipoua Forest, Upper North Island

Just over three hours drive north of Auckland on State Highway 12, between Aranga and Waimamaku, you will drive through Waipoua Forest. The drive gives you wonderful scenery of the beauty of the forest. It winds through magnificent stands of tall kauri, rimu and northern rata, and offers extensive views in a few places. I love driving north this way. there is so much to see, and the beauty of the trees, bushes, ferns, and mosses are so amazing.

You can stop and park your cars and campervans and follow good walking tracks that give easy access to the most spectacular attractions of the forest: the giant Kauri trees “Tane Mahuta”, “Te Matua Ngahere” and “Yakas”. There is also a wheel-chair access to Tane Mahuta - Lord of the Forest. And there are a few tramping tracks and routes that are also available for those who wish to go deeper into the forest, especially in the high plateau and ranges.

Waipoua Forest’s 2,500 hectares is one of the best examples of kauri forest in New Zealand and it contains three quarters of New Zealand's remaining kauri trees. It is famous for having the two largest living kauris “Tane Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere” , which are easily accessible.

The forest has the largest population of North Island brown kiwi in Northland, and a small population of kokako in the high plateau country.

The day was wet and the rain drizzled all the way as we drove up State Highway 12 and through the forest, so I’m sorry about the grey sky, but I wasn’t going to change it…