Where kauri forests once stood, agriculture was now King.

We’re nearing our quest is the Maori guided twilight walk through two kauri forest reserves within the Waipoua Forest.

Now within the reserve, we’re on 18 km of narrow roads winding through beautiful forests rich in fern trees and other native species.

This is early in the “Twilight Encounter – the Maori Cultural Eco Night Tour” with our guide Amiria (which she pronounced “a-media”). Both of these walks are behind bio-security gates which include thorough shoe washing facilities meant to control the spread of kauri dieback, a disease which can kill kauri trees.

Amiria began our tour by asking each of us questions about who we were, what our backgrounds were, and what we were expecting out of the experience.

We started at the Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) Walk. This is one of the first large kauri trees we encountered. Note it’s size relative to the people.

Amiria sang songs to the forest in her native tongue as we walked. The Maori songs were beautiful, and her voice rang beautifully through the forest. It added a mystical element to the experience.

This is the crown of Te Matua Ngahere, The Father of the Forest. The rest of the tree is in the photo below.

This is the base of Te Matua Ngahere, one truly impressive tree.

When we reached the Tane Mahuta walk, we were well into twilight so photography wasn’t possible. It was also a very impressive tree.

Kiwis are nocturnal, very reclusive and seldom seen in the wild. As the twilight progressed kiwis became active and we could hear their distinctive voices, making it very clear that they were in the forest with us.

As she guided us, Amiria was telling us traditional Maori stories and singing traditional songs in her beautiful voice. It was a magical experience.

We used the footwear washing stations on entering and exiting the sites. The soles of our shoes were so clean, it looked like they had never been worn!