NZ Bush Walk

A Kauri tree is one of the most ancient trees in the world, and the largest by volume. They're a protected tree in NZ.
There's a small trail (half-mile?) near Steph's house that takes you in a circle to examine some of the kauri trees, including the 8th largest in NZ. We ventured off that trail for 3 1/2 hours of fun. We were on a different, marked trail (there were small orange arrows letting you know what direction to go), but there was hardly a trail. After 2 hours, we were freaking out wondering where we were and where we were going. We finally ended up at a small creek. We rested for a few minutes on the edge of a waterfall, then walked back.
The hike was not easy. We walked up and up and up steep hills (mountains), got cut up by flax, and Mary got stung by a bee.
The bee left a pouch of venom in Mary's arm. It immediately got red, swollen, and itchy. Mary still has a hole in her arm where she got stung.
After the hike, we went swimming in a "swimming hole." Water comes out of the hills, down a small waterfall, and continues on as a creek. It happens to be deep enough by the waterfall that you can dive in the water. The water was SO COLD!

Here are pics from the hike. They include Kauri trees, dead Kauri trees (they're so big, we're standing inside of them, and pics from our swim.

NZ Bush Hike