Moody New Zealand Photography - M1key - Michal Huniewicz

New Zealand nature never ceases to amaze.

The wonderful, prehistoric-looking New Zealand fern.

And all of this is not too far from Auckland, in a place that's quite unassuming, just a few steps from a parking lot.

Along Road 25 in west Coromandel.

A beautiful walk leading up to Kauri trees, east Coromandel.

A tropical creek gently murmuring in the same location.

This is the largest tree species by volume in all of New Zealand, kauri. There are relatively few left, the only survivors of Māori burning and European tree logging. Unfortunately endangered by kauri dieback, they require special protection nowadays. [1]

I was promised this was a nudist beach — but only to be bitterly disappointed.

The bush here is overtaking what was once a thriving mining town.

This is known as prison, although the exact purpose of this human-made cave is unknown. Inside, there is fake skeleton and - far more terrifyingly - giant insectoids that caused my rapid and disorderly departure from the cave. It may have been the demon grasshopper or something of the Deinacrida genus. And I was told New Zealand had benign wildlife compared to the Australian horrors...

And I leave you with a view of the ocean.