Faerie forest, Part One

On our way back to Auckland from our weekend in Leigh (highlighted in my last post), we made a stop for one more surprise. I’d come close to it a number of times during my years of international travel, but had never stopped in before. But Batty and Squiddy had taken CD there last year and she was pretty sure I’d enjoy it. It’s called the Zealandia Sculpture Garden and is near the town of Warkworth. It had just been sold to an investor from Australia but was still in operation a few weeks ago. The sculptures were very interesting (here’s one of them with most of the New Zealand family contingent), but I found myself most captivated by the setting, which bordered on a forest of kauri trees (Agathis australis), a lovely species of ancient conifer. They used to be quite common in the country, but the vast majority were felled for lumber during early European settlement. Some large ones are still to be found in reserves, particularly in the Waipoua Forest. The oldest is estimated at 2,000 years and the trunk of the largest is 4.4 meters in diameter. (I visited it two years ago and posted a report about the experience). Though there were no real giants among this stand, in which magical faerie folk seemed to be watching us, just out of sight, a fairly-gentle walking path led to a small platform that provided a good view of one of the largest. For the second and third photos, I’ve found myself inspired by fellow blogger Laura Macky’s recent post (Inner Beauty) to try a Photoshop filter (Oil Paint) that I haven’t used before, and hope that you like the results. I don’t do this often, but it helped to convey some of the magic that I felt in this very special place.  [Be sure to click on a photo for a larger image with better detail.]