Really? All this fuss about a kauri tree?

If you’re a grown-up Kiwi and you haven’t been here yet, you really must go.

Cruise a little further along the coast from the very pleasant town that is Whakatāne, and you’ll hit Ōhope Beach.

Depending on who you believe, ‘Pōhutu’ means ‘big splash’, ‘explosion’ or the more gentle ‘constant splashing’.

Te Papa: its location alone is a treasure.

This is becoming a hugely popular walkway, so you’ll need to watch for and be nice to the other folk.

Just out of Tākaka, in gorgeous Golden Bay, on the way to Farewell Spit, lie the Te Waikoropupū Springs.

You come from the south along State Highway 12, you crest the hill and bam!