Last Tuesday we drove back down from the Bay of Islands towards Auckland. On the way we saw Kauri trees. The word kauri sounds like the welsh word for giant - "cawr" - and, while I don't think there's much shared heritage between the Welsh and the Polynesians, it is an interesting coincidence...

Kauri trees are absolutely enormous. They're awesome, in the original sense of the word. The one in this photo is Tane Mahuta - the tallest known kauri tree in New Zealand. He stands at a massive 51m tall, and sports and impressive 14m girth.

If you have eagle eyes you might just spot the face of a woman who was standing in the undergrowth half way between me and Tane. I have christened her "Scale Lady" for the purposes of this photo.