Off to the Northland
No doubt about it — The Legal Genealogist is having a ball here in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
I was honored to be one of the speakers at this past weekend’s 50th anniversary celebration of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists — a gathering of hundreds of avid genealogists from around New Zealand and beyond to review issues of genealogical ethics, copyright, methodology, tools and techniques and so much more.
But now… now I’m just off playing. I mean, seriously, you can’t come this far as an American and not spend some time sightseeing, right?
So… with Australian genealogist Helen Smith I set off this morning for the north of the north island. We may not have gotten all that far, seeing as how we were stopping every few minutes to sightsee… but oh my… can you blame us?
I mean there are all those bays and beaches out there…
And we met a couple of new friends…
Then we headed inland for a bit…
We ended up at the Kauri Museum. The kauri is a tree roughly the size of some of the redwoods or sequoia of the United States, with a lifespan of thousands of years. Its wood is simply gorgeous, which made it a prime target for logging, and — sadly — there are nowhere near as many remaining as there were (we hope to see one).
But it also produces a resin much like amber — and it’s gorgeous. There are many kauri gum pieces in the Kauri Museum close to where we ended up for the night.
Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings…
Wonderful photos. Thanks
Have a good time! I loved touring New Zealand: glowworms, geysers, Maori culture, Auckland, Hobbiton, … great place to visit!
My favorite place on earth. I was fortunate enough to spend three weeks driving around the north part of the North Island, then the south part of the South Island. 2200 miles all told. By luck, I happened to be there on the 150th Waitangi Day and saw Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip up in the Bay of Islands for the celebration. So memorable. I hope to get back some day and bring my husband.
Call in at Warkworth Museum on your way back south and see a pioneer village. It has an amazing archive department.
Sunny day – the view of the sandhills as you reach Omapere should be breathtaking!
The harbor there was truly amazing…