Thursday – March 6, 2025
You’ve heard of bubble, Doublemint, Juicy Fruit and Spearmint but what is this Tauri gum? It is the sap of the touri tree. The sap that the tree “bleeds” when it has a wound. The sap clings to the wound and falls off when the wound has healed. It can fall quite a ways because the touri is the second largest tree in the world – second only to the sequoia. You can read more about the tree and its sap here. In the featured photo our guide – Kena – is holding a piece of kuari gum given to him by his grandfather.
No sunrise to video this morning but we did have an eye-opening event. As we were in the tender on our way in to Bay of Islands we had a water “event”. The seaman in charge of the front did not close and secure the door correctly. When we hit a wave the water was able to come through that opening – and it did so with enthusiasm flooding the floor in the front of the tender where we were seated. I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo of the first gush of water but did get a photo of the aftermath with some coming in the bottom of the doorway. This was the first time we took a selfie in a tender.
On shore we found our bus, guide (Kena) and driver (Ray). Kena has relatives in Nevada who have lived there for 40 years. He said he isn’t about to leave New Zealand because he has 21 grandchildren here (and his 5 children). We headed to a town named Kerikeri to view the Kemp House (1820) and Stone Store (1830) associated with the British Kerikeri Mission. It was there Kena told us about the Maori chief Hongi Hika. You’ll want to read about him here but let me give you the short story.
Hongi offered protection to British missionaries. One result was he was encouraged to travel to England where he met King George IV, Parliament and was introduced at Cambridge University. During these visits he was given gifts. On the return trip to New Zealand, during a stop in Australia, Hongi traded most of the gifts for muskets. Upon return to Kerikeri he armed his tribe with the muskets and began a war with other Maori tribes in North Island. After killing the men he would bring the women and children back to a spot opposite the Kerikeri mission. Those women were either married off, used as slaves or eaten. One of the gifts he was given by King George was a suit of armor which Hongi wore in battle. People thought he was invincible because he was not injured in battle. However, several years later he was shot in the chest and lived for nearly a year and a half. At his death the missionaries convinced the tribal leaders to release all the slaves and at that time there was a conversion to Christianity en masse.
While at the Kerikeri Mission site we met Kena’s wife who was the guide for another tour group. Our group left for the next stop – Rainbow Falls. The falls frequently produce rainbows with the mist that forms from the falling water – hence the name. We walked to the bottom of the falls and in the process needed to cleanse our shoes to prevent fungus from being brought to the forest near the falls. You’ll see a couple photos of us using the cleansing station on the path. This area is also a Kiwi zone where no dogs are allowed.
Back on the bus we noticed there was a mini-golf course nearby but we didn’t have time to stop for a game. We’ll leave that to Dick & Ann when they visit Kerikeri. Instead we headed to an area where kauri tree grow – Manginangina.
The kauri trees grow in a narrow range the same distance South of the equator as the sequoia is North of the equator. They used to cover North Island as far South as Auckland but were cut over the years so there are few populous areas now and all those are protected. The tree is even protected on private property. Kena has a 500 year old tree on his property and he may not cut it without approval from the government. We found it relaxing to walk among these tall trees and the other vegetation (especially large ferns). Kena told us his grandmother’s house was built from a single kauri tree many years ago. You’ll find many photos from our time in the forest in today’s media.
Kena explained that the forest can sustain a person with food, protection and medicine. Once a year from a friend he receives a box of medicines made from forest plants. One of Kena’s children is an orthopedic surgeon. He doesn’t believe in the value of the forest medicines but prefers drugs from the pharmaceutical companies. This creates fodder for discussion when Kena and his son are at family gatherings.
A word about the videos in this media. Of late many of our tours that are advertised as English have included interpreters for other languages. For this tour the other language was Spanish. You will find sections of the videos with no audio. I have edited out the Spanish interpretation. When a guide provides information in English and then the interpreter repeats it in the other language, this limits the amount of information the guide can convey because he can’t be speaking half the time he is with us. We have noticed this is a frustration of the guides as it is for us. We would like to hear as much as we can about the area we are visiting and cutting the available time to give us that information in half is a detriment. We will give that feedback to the people at MSC who organize the excursions.
Kena pointed out a couple of other things on the way back to the ship. Each power pole wears a metal band above the ground. This is to prevent the New Zealand possums from climbing the poles and chewing on the power lines. I’ve been told that fried possum isn’t that tasty. As we passed through Paihia we saw the location where a treaty was signed between the Maori and British. You’ll see that as a still image in today’s media.
At the pier we took a shuttle bus to Piahia, did some shopping (Kelsey found a pair of leopard pants) and stopped at Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack for lunch. None of us had ribs because those selections looked like way too much food for us. Instead Jan and I got sandwiches and Kelsey had pasta. We shared an order of fried battered cauliflower. Kelsey munched on the fries that remained as we waited for the shuttle to take us back to the ship.
There is a time-lapse video of us leaving Bay of Islands as we head to Christchurch and South Island. I felt like the atmosphere in Bay of Islands was the most relaxed of the 3 stops we made on North Island.
Included in today’s media are photos of some of the dinner items and a sunset time-lapse. The sunset was nice but nothing spectacular.
Tonight’s show was presented by the classical music group (6 musicians and 4 operetta singers). The theme was “The Music Of The World”. Many of the selections were, again, not in English and those that were in English were performed better (in opinion) by non-operetta singers. But it was staged well and the audience seemed to like the show.
Tomorrow we have a day at sea as we head South to arrive at our first stop on South Island – Christchurch – on Saturday.
3 responses to “Tauri Gum”
The water looks really blue. The grilled chicken looks good and the crème peaches with a merriatto. Interesting about tauri trees and their gum.
It looks like amber. Is it that hard/dense, too? Hope you are having a WONDERFUL time!!!
Our giude had to use a hammer to break apart the piece given him by his grandfather. I don’t know how hard or dense amber is but this felt solid and heavy. Writing this as we are sailing from New Zealand to Tasmania. Finally getting a change to write the text that goes with the media we have posted. Hope you are having fun with your cattle prod!