This short walk leads you under cooling shade of the forest canopy to the majestic Tāne Mahuta, New Zealand's largest living kauri tree.
Not far into the walk, a sweeping corner of the track suddenly brings you face to face with the ‘Lord of the Forest’. When you catch your first breath-taking view of this magnificent tree, you'll feel compelled to pause for a while. You can almost feel Tāne Mahuta’s strength and ancient presence, and its overwhelming size makes visitors look like dwarfs.
There is a wooden fence and a seat to view the tree. To get a broader view of Tāne Mahuta, you can move further along the boardwalk to another viewing platform.
Getting there:
The Tāne Mahuta Walk is signposted from SH12, which runs through the Waipoua Forest. The southern township of Dargaville is 65 km away and the northern township of Omapere is 18 km.
The road widens at the Tāne Mahuta car park to accommodate visitor vehicles. There is a picnic area, and toilets located 25 m back from the car park on the opposite side of the road from the track entrance.
Nature and conservation:
It is very important that you keep to the walking track at all times. Kauri trees have very sensitive surface roots, and foot traffic around the tree endangers their life span.
About Tāne Mahuta:
Tāne Mahuta ('Lord of the Forest') is New Zealand’s largest known living kauri tree.
It is thought the first encounter of the tree by Westerners was in the 1920s, by contractors surveying the present SH12 through the forest. In 1928, Nicholas Yakas and other bushmen who were building the road, also came across the big tree Tāne Mahuta.
According to Maori mythology Tāne is the son of Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother. Tāne was the child that tore his parents' parental embrace and once done set about clothing his mother in the forest we have here today. All living creatures of the forest are regarded as Tāne's children.
Measurements:
Trunk girth: 13.77 m
Trunk height: 17.68 m
Total height: 51.2 m
Trunk volume: 244.5 m³
Note: At the beginning of the walk there is a Kauri Dieback cleaning station. Please ensure you adhere to all requirements. Due to this issue access to Tane Mahuta is only available during daylight hours. Do not go off track, do not climb over the fences.
To claim this cache, please answer the following questions:
1 - At the 1st view point you will find a cylindrical object standing just to the left. What is the purpose of this object? (Note: This object was vandalised in October 2019 and is currently not functioning as intended. Best guess accepted.)
2 - Continue your walk along the pathway to the end. Here you will find a wooden bench. Count how many wooden decking planks run below the bench lengthwise, starting from the outer seat edge and finishing at the opposite end.
3 - At the very end of the walkway you will find 2 warning signs. What is the message on these signs?
4 - Optional: Take a photo of yourselves or GPS with Tane Mahuta in the background. Please upload this to your online log.
Once you have sent the answers feel free to log the cache as found. Please do not put any spoilers in your log. If there are any problems we will be in touch. We reserve the right to delete your log if the issues are not resolved.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
