Islands on the brain

CHAPTER 21

For some reason islands fascinate me.  The idea of islands to be more specific.  Little floating worlds, secluded from the rest of creation, with their own geography, their own environment, their own creatures, their own set of rules to which life adheres.  Visiting an island is a step into the unknown, but unlike the world at large, this mini-world is contained and finite- you can learn everything about an island, visit every corner and look under every rock.  And that’s what I like about islands, the fact that you can know one completely.

Well, it is obvious that we were already on an island, the North Island of New Zealand to be exact, but sitting in our camper one evening, with our road atlas spread across the fold out table, a small label in bold black print caught my eye: The Bay of Islands.  I knew nothing about it, but immediately wanted to go there.  I was unconsciously drawn to the plethora of pinprick landmasses dotting the map and wanted to step foot on every one of them, notwithstanding the unfortunate truth that we were currently traveling in a very much non-amphibious campervan.   Even so, our compass had been set, and soon after leaving the wine country of Napier, we headed north with islands on the brain.

On our way north, we had the chance to visit a different type of island, and ecological one.  There happens to be a certain tree native to New Zealand which is exceptional in its size and grandeur.  The kauri tree is as massive and impressive as the biggest red wood, and just as the red wood, was cut down and logged almost to extinction.  The few remaining groves of giant kauri are islands in their own right, massive living things that when looked upon make you feel puny and insignificant.  The fact that individual kauri have been surviving successfully for the past 2,500 years, just to be cut down for lumber in the past 150 years, is embarrassing- our whole species should feel ashamed.

Arriving in the Bay of Islands, the small town of Russell greeted us, and we spent almost a week relaxing in its laid back vibe, the longest we have spent almost anywhere in our travels.  The actual islands in The Bay of Islands proved a little too difficult (read “expensive”) to visit on this trip, but the seed has been sewn, and a mental raincheck to come back, the next time with our own boat, has been issued.