Hundertwasser Toilets, Kawakawa

Students of this blog know that we first became acquainted with the art of Friendenreich Hundertwasser (not his real name, of course) in Vienna a few years ago. It is a name and also an artistic vision that one does not forget. (No straight lines, reconciliation with nature, etc., ...). We were surprised initially to learn that Hundertwasser had come to New Zealand in the 1970s, become a Kiwi national, and lived out the last couple decades of his life on a self-sufficient farm near Kawakawa. The more one learns about New Zealand and about Hundertwasser, the less surprising it is, really. In any case, he designed a public toilet building in Kawakawa that we had to see. It is small but typical of his work, particularly his New Zealand bottle period. In nearby Whangarei, they are creating a full museum to showcase his work and that of New Zealanders, particularly Maori, whom he admired. At the end, below, are pictured a few other Hundertwasser-inspired buildings and other stuff in Kawakawa.

Kouto Boulders

Beyond Hokianga, still on the Tasman side of Northland, we stopped to take a low-tide look at the Kouto Boulders in the bay there. We're getting pretty bold about the tides now. The Kouto Boulders are similar to the Moeraki Boulders, on the Pacific side of the South Island, north of Dunedin, which we saw in January.

Northland coastal view...waves coming in seemingly at right angles...

The boulders appear near the end of the bay, at low tide, and they go on for
perhaps a kilometer

Kauris But No Kiwis

The Kauri tree is, after California's giant sequoia, the largest of all living things. The North Island had many Kauri forests until Europeans, that is, the British, showed up in the 19th century and began hacking them all down. There are pockets here and there now, and, of course, they are protected. We stopped at the Trounson Kauri and Kiwi Preserve, one of the pockets of Kauri forest, toured the little forest by day, and then walked much of it again by night in hopes of viewing a kiwi.

New Zealanders, well, their Department of Conservation, are
nearly fanatical about protection and preservation of both
natural and cultural resources; when you visit a DOC Kauri
preserve, you disinfect your boots both coming and going...

At Trounson, much of the trail is on board-
walk--to protect the trees' roots--so there are
few opportunities for photos with humans
or other perspective-lending objects; suffice
to say, these trees are very large 

Thus

And thus

Perhaps the largest at Trounson

And thus

More

After dark, we wrapped red cellophane around our headlamp
lenses--kiwis supposedly don't see the red bit of the
spectrum--and headed out in search of the rare birds--we
heard their distinctive "eek, eek, eek" cries but never saw
one (we think we've seen others elsewhere); we did see rats
scurrying about in the trees and attempted to photo them;
ick

Next day we drove on to another big preserve
and saw Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest, the
largest remaining Kauri; it's impossibly huge....

Click to enlarge...worth reading

Ripiro Beach

From the dune lakes at Kai Iwi, further up and inland from Bayly's Beach, there is a track, a bit more than 2km, across hills and grazing lands, then down the short cliff to the beach. The beach is perhaps 200 feet wide at low-tide (now), it is all yours, deserted for miles, with no access other than what you've just walked. It's sunny and warm. Oh yes, there's a water-fall just where you come down the cliff.

One of the dune lakes at Kai Iwi; land-locked but only a couple miles from the
sea, resting on ancient dunes...

The track and some of the terrain

One of the hills; Vicki counted 98 steps

Perhaps a dozen stiles to cross

And of course you must respect the bulls (not pictured) and the electric fence

But then you're there and Ripiro Beach is all yours, at least until high tide

Looking north

And south

The waterfall

Panoramic view from waterfall to sea

Me, testing the waters

Vicki, testing the waterfall

Definitely a bucket list kind of thing