Welcome to the jungle

We went to bed late, so the checkout time at 10 felt a bit cruel. We didn't feel very energetic for another day full of sightseeing but drove south anyways. A few minutes from Awanui we got to the slightly bigger town of Kaitaia. We got some groceries and went to our first i-site, the tourist information of New Zealand. The building was nice and we got some good info's on a nice Kauri forest in the area.

Kauri trees are native trees to New Zealand. They usually grow in the most diverse forests here. The only problem is that many Kauri trees are getting ill from dieback, a disease without cure that kills Kauri trees. Therefore some areas are completely closed to the public and others have cleaning stations installed. The latter was the case at our camping in the Puketi forest. It was a simple cheap camping but had all we needed, and there were 2 Kauri walks super close by. It wasn't busy either, which meant we could fully immerse ourselves in the jungle and the wildlife.Read more