Today’s photos come from the Taheke Scenic Reserve near Whangarei. The reserve is home to a grove of regenerating kauri, an impressive waterfall and the beautiful Taheke River.
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It’s National Poetry Day — so there has never been a better time to open our blog to the bards!
Working in some of New Zealand’s most beautiful and scenic places inspires the creative minds of many who work for the Department of Conservation. It’s not surprising then, that we have our fair share of poets.
Piet Nieuwland works in our management planning team in Hamilton, he also writes poetry. To celebrate National Poetry Day he shares with us:
Kuaka/bar-tailed godwit. Photo: Leo/flickr (cc)
Kauri Mountain, Kiwi Coast, Ngāti Korora
By Piet Nieuwland
Through gate
Cross paddock
Down cliff track
It’s a dive straight in
To kelp laden surf
Thick with froth and foam
Where the polygamous languages
Of our genes, speak
Through the warm mouths
Of hot summer skies
White butterflies and monarchs
Jive and jizz and jazz to black cicada beats
Centuries of kuaka, eye to eye, kanohi te kanohi
Lift off in cloud bound north
The crayfish orange hulk of a ship
Crawls into the horizontal zone
The air filling with a sweet
Salty taste
Of creamy flesh
The tooth of a yacht sail
Cuts the wind
Slowly peeling open
Curves of software ecosystems
And from a 4G Apteryx smartphone
A call comes in
Stoatattackstoatattackdogattack
Stoatattackdogattackstoatattack
Stoatattackdogattackstoatattack
Kelp laden surf. Photo: iangbl/flickr (cc)
We’d love to read your nature inspired poems here on the blog today too. Why not share your work with us in the comments?
New Zealand’s largest living kauri tree—Tāne Mahuta, Lord of the Forest—is this week’s photo of the week.
With such a majestic name, Tāne Mahuta is an apt choice for Māori Language Week, with its focus on ‘Ngā ingoa Māori, Māori names’.
Tāne Mahuta stands in Waipoua Forest in Northland and is thought to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years old.
According to Maori mythology Tāne was the son of Ranginui the sky father and Papatūānuku the earth mother. Tāne was the child that separated his parents’ embrace, bringing light to the earth, and clothing his mother in the forest we have today. All living creatures of the forest are regarded as Tāne’s children.
The tree is a remnant of the ancient subtropical rainforest that once grew on the North Auckland Peninsula.
This photo was taken by C S Jones.
Visit Waipoua Forest
The forests of Waipoua are the garden of Tane Mahuta. Waipoua, and the adjoining forests of Mataraua and Waima, make up the largest remaining tract of native forest in Northland. Good walking tracks give easy access to the most spectacular attractions of the forest: the giant trees Tane Mahuta, Te Matua Ngahere and Yakas. Tramping tracks and routes are also available for those who wish to venture deeper into the forest, especially in the high plateau and ranges.
Learn more about visiting Waipoua
Send us your photos
If you have a great, conservation related photo you want to share with the world (or at least the readers of this blog) send it through to us at socialmedia@doc.govt.nz.