Woke at 7am and spent an hour reading guidebook & map, planning the next couple of days. Kids woke just before 8, and we were on the road for 9, after breakfast & school work.

Drove to Matakohe & the Kauri Pioneer Museum - impressive displays of Kauri wood, carvings, furniture & gum, pus the history of the area & the industry.

Then drove to Lake Kai Iwi to eat lunch by the shore, & on to the Waipoua forest. First stop the forest lookout, then the forest HQ (information center and shop), then the Kauri walks: first to the four sisters, then to Tane Mathua (the father of the forest). Massive, awesomely impressive trees - a small glimpse of how the whole area would have looked, pre-logging!

Then started heading back south - has a brief stop at Tokatoka Peak for a snack, then back to Matakohe for a $90 cabin at the Holiday park - a bit pricey, but everyone had had enough of being in the car!