Ranginui and Papatuanuku

The Maori creation myth tells how heaven and earth were once joined as Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, lay together in a tight embrace. They had many children who lived in the darkness between them. The children wished to live in the light and so separated their unwilling parents. Ranginui and Papatuanuku continue to grieve for each other to this day. Rangi's tears fall as rain towards Papatuanuku to show how much he loves her. When mist rises from the forests, these are Papa's sighs as the warmth of her body yearns for him and continues to nurture mankind.

In Maori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatuanuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world.

Union and separation

Rangi and Papa are the primordial parents, the sky father and the earth mother, who lie locked together in a tight embrace. They have many children, all of which are male, who are forced to live in the cramped darkness between them.

These children grow and discuss amongst themselves what it would be like to live in the light. Tumatauenga, the fiercest of the children, proposes that the best solution to their predicament is to kill their parents (Grey 1956:2).

But his brother Tane disagrees, suggesting that it is better to push them apart, to let Rangi be as a stranger to them in the sky above, while Papa will remain below to nurture them. The others put their plans into action: Rongo, the god of cultivated food tries to push his parents apart, then Tangaroa the god of the sea and his sibling Haumia-tiketike, the god of wild food, join him. In spite of their joint efforts, Rangi and Papa remain close together in their loving embrace.

After many attempts, Tane, god of forests and birds, forces his parents apart. Instead of standing upright and pushing with his hands as his brothers have done, he lies on his back and pushes with his strong legs. Stretching every sinew, Tane pushes and pushes until with cries of grief and surprise, Ranginui and Papatuanuku are prised apart.

War in Heaven and Earth

And so the children of Rangi and Papa see light and have space to move for the first time. While the other children have agreed to the separation, Tawhirimatea the god of storms and winds is angered that the parents have been torn apart. He cannot not bear to hear the cries of his parents, nor see the tears of the Rangi as they are parted, so he promises his siblings that from henceforth, they will have to deal with his anger.

He flies off to join Rangi, and there carefully fosters his own many offspring, who include the winds, one of whom is sent to each quarter of the compass. To fight his brothers, Tawhirimatea gathers an army of his children, winds and clouds of different kinds including fierce squalls, whirlwinds, gloomy thick clouds, fiery clouds, hurricane clouds and thunderstorm clouds, and rain, mists and fog. As these winds show their might the dust flies, and the great forest trees of Tane are smashed under the attack and fall to the ground, food for decay and for insects.

Then Tawhirimatea attacks the oceans, and huge waves rise, whirlpools form, and Tangaroa, the god of the sea, flees in panic. Punga, a son of Tangaroa, has two children, Ikatere, father of fish and Tu-te-wehiwehi (or Tu-te-wanawana), the ancestor of reptiles. Terrified by Tawhirimatea's onslaught, the fish seek shelter in the sea, and the reptiles in the forests. Ever since, Tangaroa has been angry with Tane for giving refuge to his runaway children.

So it is that Tane supplies the descendants of Tumatauenga with canoes, fishhooks, and nets to catch the descendants of Tangaroa. Tangaroa retaliates by swamping canoes and sweeping away houses, land and trees that are washed out to sea in floods.

Tawhirimatea next attacks his brothers Rongo and Haumia-tiketike, the gods of cultivated and uncultivated foods. Rongo and Haumia are in great fear of Tawhirimatea, but as he attacks them, Papa determines to keep these for her other children, and hides them so well that Tawhirimatea cannot find them. So Tawhirimatea turns on his brother Tumatauenga.

He uses all his strength, but Tu stands fast, and Tawhiri cannot prevail against him. Tu (or humankind) stands fast, and at last the anger of the gods subsided and peace prevailed. Tu thought about the actions of Tane in separating their parents, and made snares to catch the birds, the children of Tane, who could no longer fly free.

He then makes nets from forest plants and casts them in the sea, so that the children of Tangaroa soon lie in heaps on the shore.

He made hoes to dig the ground, capturing his brothers Rongo and Haumia-tiketike where they have hidden from Tawhirimatea in the bosom of the earth mother, and recognising them by their long hair which remains above the surface of the earth, he drags them forth and heaps them into baskets to be eaten.

So Tu-the-man eats all of his brothers to repay them for their cowardice; the only brother that Tu does not subdue is Tawhirimatea, whose storms and hurricanes attack humankind to this day.

Tane searched for heavenly bodies as lights so that his father would be appropriately dressed. He obtained the stars and threw them up, along with the moon and the sun. At last Rangi looked handsome.

Rangi and Papa continue to grieve for each other to this day. Ranginui's tears fall towards Papatuanuku to show how much he loves her. Sometimes Papatuanuku heaves and strains and almost breaks herself apart to reach her beloved partner again but it is to no avail.

When mist rises from the forests, these are Papatuanuku's sighs as the warmth of her body yearns for Ranginui and continues to nurture mankind

Kauri - Agathis australis

commonly known as the kauri, is a coniferous tree found north of 38°S in the northern districts of New Zealand's North Island. It is the largest - by size or volume - not height - in New Zealand, standing up to 50 m tall in the emergent layer above the forest's main canopy.

The young plant grows straight upwards and has the form of a narrow cone with branches going out along the length of the trunk. However, as it gains in height, the lowest branches are shed, preventing epiphytes from climbing. By maturity, the top branches form an imposing crown that stands out over all other native trees, dominating the heights of the forest.

The flaking bark of the kauri tree defends it from parasitic plants, and accumulates around the base of the trunk. On large trees it may pile up to a height of 2 m or more.

Although its root system is very shallow, it also has several downwardly directed peg roots which anchor it firmly in the soil. Such a solid foundation is necessary for a tree the size of a kauri to prevent it blowing over in storms and cyclones.


Kauri leaves are 3 to 7 cm long and 1 cm broad, tough and leathery in texture, with no midrib; they are arranged in opposite pairs or whorls of three on the stem.

The seed cones are globose, 5 to 7 cm diameter, and mature 18 to 20 months after pollination; the seed cones disintegrate at maturity to release winged seeds, which are then dispersed by the wind. A single tree produces both male and female seed cones. Fertilisation of the seeds occurs by pollination, which may be driven by the same or another tree's pollen.

Kauri forests are among the most ancient in the world. The kauri type trees evolved during the Jurassic period (190 and 135 million years ago) and though it therefore an old type of tree it has an unusual substrate/soil interaction and regenerates in such a way that it kept competing successfully with the 'newer', faster growing angiosperms. It feeds in the organic litter near the surface of the soil through fine root hairs. This layer of the soil is composed of organic matter derived from falling leaves and branches as well as dead trees, and is constantly undergoing decomposition.

As it decays the kauri leaves acidic compounds and as they 'leach' they decayed compounds pass through the soil layers- with the help of rain - releasing nutrients trapped in the soil - typically nitrogen & phosphorus - (a process is known as podsolization, which changes the soil composition making it difficult for undergrowth or competitors to take root. The soil also changes colour - to a dull grey - an area known as a cup podsol.

Leaf litter and other decaying parts of a kauri decompose much more slowly than those of most other species. Besides its acidity, the plant also bears substances such as waxes and phenols that are harmful to microorganisms. This results in a large buildup of litter around the base of a mature tree in which its own roots feed. These feeding roots also house a symbiotic fungi known as mycorrhiza which increase the plant's efficiency in taking up nutrients. In this mutualistic relationship, the fungus derives its own nutrition from the roots. In its interactions with the soil, kauri is thus able to starve its competitors of much needed nutrients and compete with much younger lineages.

Forests containing kauri are generally known as kauri forests, though kauri needn't be the most abundant tree type to gain this description. In fact the kauri has a habit of forming small clumps or patches scattered through mixed forests


Heavy logging which began around 1820, continued for a century, and has considerably decreased the number of kauri trees. It's been estimated that before 1840, the kauri forests of northern New Zealand occupied at least 12,000 square kilometres. By the 1950s this area had decreased to about 1,400 square kilometres in 47 forests depleted of their best kauri. By 1900, less than 10 per cent of the original kauri survived. It is estimated that today, there is 4 per cent of uncut forest left in small pockets.It is calculated that around a little under half of the timber was accidentally or deliberately burnt. A little more than half of the remainder had been exported to Australia, Britain, and other countries, while the small balance was used locally to build houses and ships - superb colour and toughness but especially good for masts (few branches) and very resistant to water ... (the gum was used in varnish too...)

Giant kauri are found in North Island forests but most famous is "Te Matua Ngahere" and "Tāne Mahuta". According to Maori mythology Tāne is the son of Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother. Tāne was the child that tore his parent’s parental embrace and once done set about clothing his mother in the forest we have today. All living creatures of the forest are regarded as Tāne’s children.

Into Petra

The climb into the back of Petra - (Greek "πέτρα" (petra), meaning rock; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ).

After breakfast and covering some rocky ground, we reached some rough fields, which we crossed, (where the Bedouin sow wheat in the autumn and harvest it the following spring), and finally emerged from the last canyon onto a high plateau, where we could see across to the mountains of Petra and make out Aaron's Tomb - yes - Moses' brother. This is at the top of Mount Hor - situated "in the edge of the land of Edom" (From the Bible -Numbers 33:37). It is the scene of his death, a twin-peaked mountain 4,780 feet above sea-level (6,000+ feet above the Dead Sea), in the Edomite Mountains on the east side of the Jordan-Arabah valley, marked by a white Mosque.
We have had to climb (steadily) uphill … for a long time … to reach this point as we broke out onto a path on the edge of a cliff … see the photo at the top of the page … with Bob leading the Team across the ledge at a fair rate of knots! (Found out it was because he hated the exposure!).

"What exposure?"

The drop was about 300 feet … something no one was keen on trying! None of us talked much during this shuffle around the jutting rock that blocked our way … though those who disliked heights did really well.

Below - just to the right - is a Team photo, (the initial Group plus three newcomers - as we had been joined by a Dutch couple - a Physical Education expert and his wife, who worked for Red Bull in Marketing, and their good friend, a French mountaineer and ski instructor). This was taken as we reached the top of our walk. It was a still a decent stroll to the top of Petra … and then … we had reached our goal … the most amazing place – and much larger than expected; full of incredible carved buildings and Roman remains that cannot be described …Most of the visitors today come into the complex from the east (with a most impressive entrance through a dark, narrow gorge (see later in this Blog). However we had entered at the top of the "back" of Petra.

The photo below is of Bob and I at the first of these great monuments – the Monastery (El Deir). From here we walked down hill through history. The whole of Petra is truly awe-inspiring …. archeological evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. Parts of Exodus from the Bible mention are places associated with Petra. At the foot of the mountain called 'en-Nejr' - the summit of which was close to where we entered Petra, is a massive stone cut amphitheatre, so placed as to bring the greatest number of tombs within view. At the point where the valley opens out into the plain, the site of the city is revealed with striking effect. The amphitheatre has been cut into the hillside and into several of the tombs during its construction. Almost enclosing the place - on three sides - are the rose-coloured mountain walls, divided into groups by deep fissures, and lined with columns cut from the rock in the form of towers. An very inspiring and deeply moving scene - imagine - cut from rock but very civilised .. a theatre! There is a lot of Roman remains in Petra - not least a Forum, a Temple and paved road (Cardo). However in 106 AD, when Cornelius Palma was governor of Syria, the area of Arabia under the rule of Petra was absorbed into the Roman Empire as part of Arabia Petraea, so the native dynasty came to an end though the city continued to flourish.
At the end of this narrow gorge stands Petra's most elaborate ruin, 'Al Khazneh' - popularly known as "the Treasury" - hewn into the sandstone cliff - a sight Yemaan made sure came as a delight to us by making us hold hands and close our eyes so he could guide us to the view of this. (Below is photo of the Team outside the so called Treasury)

Then we exited via the slash in the mountains that I had mentioned earlier - ('Slash' could be correct - in places it was only 9 foot wide though it is 600 feet high and about a mile in length!) - called the 'Siq' or the shaft, a natural geological feature formed from a deep split in the sandstone rocks and serving as a waterway flowing into Wadi Musa.


Petra - what a place!

New Zealand (Aotearoa in Māori)

North Island - 24th October 2008

The land of the long white cloud.

Got in from Hong Kong, by way of Thailand, and landed at Auckland - drove up to Huntaway Lodge, near Kerikeri way up in North Island.

It was warm and balmy, a very pretty coastline and what views ... we had been given the 'te Ngaere' room - the best in the Lodge - on the right hand side looking out over the coast. The Lodge is a splendid, modern timber house perched above 3 beaches and pristine coastal scenery. The first image here is the view from our room!

Huntaway Lodge.


It was warm and balmy, a very pretty coastline and what views ... we had been given the te Ngaere room - the best in the Lodge - on the right hand side looking out over the coast. The Lodge is a splendid, modern timber house perched above 3 beaches and pristine coastal scenery. The image here is the view from our room (!) - a picture Margaret took of both of us to prove it. The event involved the automatic self-timer on Margaret's camera and her throwing herself at me ... nice eh? But look past see and us that view ... pretty good, what?


Imagine waking up to this view every day whilst on holiday? Fabulous!

Looking the other way (South East) you see the Cavalli Islands - a small group of islands in Whangaroa on Northland's East Coast about 5 kilometres to the east of the mainland - (the islands of Motukawanui and Motukawaiti plus the islets of Motutapere, Panaki, Nukutaunga, Motuharakeke, Haraweka). The main island is used as a nature reserve, and some of the smaller islands are privately owned. Worthy of note was that, on December 2, 1987, the hulk of the bombed Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior was scuttled between Matauri Bay and the Cavalli Islands, to serve as a dive wreck and fish sanctuary.

Waipoua Forest – for detail see my blog of Kauri



We drove over to Waipoua Forest - the garden of Tane Mahuta. Waipoua, and the adjoining forests of Mataraua and Waima, make up the largest remaining tract of native forest in Northland. Most of Northland’s ancient forest cover has been lost to saw and fire, plundered for the precious timber of the kauri tree or cleared for farmland. However the forests are now under the protection of the Department of Conservation.

The drive over to the forest winds through magnificent stands of Kauri, Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), a large conifer (evergreen) native to NZ - a member of the podocarps (southern hemisphere conifers with great diversity, both morphologically and ecologically, with most generic variety taking place in New Caledonia, New Zealand and Tasmania - and found in South America / Indonesian islands), and Northern rātā, (Metrosideros robusta), is a huge forest tree endemic to NZ. It grows up to 25 m or taller, and usually begins its life as a hemiepiphyte high in the branches of a mature forest tree; over centuries the young tree sends descending and girdling roots down and around the trunk of its host, eventually forming a massive, frequently hollow pseudo trunk composed of fused roots. So a hemiepiphyte begins its life as an epiphyte but which later grows roots down into the ground.