Timber Milling History of New Zealand At Aucklands West Coast Beaches
Our trip, in June 2008, to Whatipu let us catch up with the timber milling history of kauri trees in the Waitakeres. The wind set the remains of the tramline at Wonga-Wonga Bay free. The line once connected Piha with Whatipu to transport the mighty kauri tree to the harbour and ship them from there.
The slides follow the path of the New Zealand forest giants. The journey begins at Piha Valley wher this tree trunk still commemorates past times. Nowadays kauri wood, used to produce gifts like photo albums, is recovered in swamps.
The reason behind that is these giants become ancient 1 thousand to 2 thousand and older. This gives a clue about their growth rate which is slow.
The next stop the train passes by is at Karekare Beach. Sometimes the wind sets the remaining bolts free. Nothing stops views over a vast sandy coast line towards Whatipu.
Yet following the path along the cliffs past Cowan Point to Tunnel Point the kauris travelled the landscape is quite different. Entering through the tunnel parts of the steam engine deserted in a sheltered kettle like space. Surrounded by cliffs and wetland a campsite gives hikers and trampers' room with basic facilities to stay over night, after acquiring permission of the department of conservation.
On another day we finished the journey of the mighty kauri at Wonga-Wonga Bay in Whatipu. We caught one of the most amazing moments at the beach. It lasted only about five minutes but they were fascinating. A hot summers’ day was interrupted by rain and led to the three last slides.
The meeting of wind and rain with this extraordinary natural light put the bay into an atmosphere of total absence of presence.
