Then he bursts into laughter. If he wasn't a giant, I'd biff him.
This, it turns out, is not one of those nasty giants who eat small children for breakfast, but New Zealand's puzzle meister, Louis Toorenbourg, who prefers to torture people - he calls it stretching their minds - with his brainteasers.
Even getting to his lair, which he calls the Labyrinth Woodworks, is a bit mind-expanding because it involves a long but spectacular drive north, past such tourist icons as the Matakohe Kauri Museum and the lordly Tane Mahuta in Waipoua Forest, then up a winding gravel road into the tranquil Waiotemara Gorge.
There Louis presides over a puzzle shop - the largest in the country, with 600 puzzles from around the world on sale; a puzzle museum - made up of his personal collection more than 2000 puzzles; a maze - with hedges made of native trees; and a workshop where he devises his own puzzles.
It's a place guaranteed to drive the unwary visitor crazy ... and I suspect that's the idea.
Indeed, one of Louis' best-known creations is a puzzle called Nzanity consisting of four wooden blocks carrying the letters N and Z in different colours which have to be of arranged so you have NZ in a particular pattern on each side.
"I did it," he reckons, "to promote New Zealand."
If that's so, you'd wonder what image of New Zealand it would give people.
"I gave one to my granddaughter and it took her six months to solve," he says with glee.
"It nearly made her mad."
But don't laugh. At the moment Louis makes these puzzles himself in small quantities, but he's negotiating with a puzzle company to have them mass-produced. So next Christmas some cruel relation might give you one.
Louis' maze is not only easy to get lost in, but also has a second puzzle which has to be solved on the way round. I emerge with a jumbled collection of letters which have to be made into three words "and you'll get a prize";.
Keen to make up for the "one word" fiasco, I think long, hard ... and unsuccessfully.
"Use your brain," says Louis, grinning. "That's a clue."
Eventually I work out the answer, with the help of his hints, and receive a heart-shaped lollipop as my prize.
Actually, this isn't my first encounter with Louis. I knew him years ago when he ran a craft shop in the nearby town of Rawene. But even then his real interest was making puzzles.
In fact, it's an interest which goes back to early childhood, something he demonstrates by producing "a jigsaw puzzle of Holland I got when I was six or seven and have kept ever since," and he's been making and collecting them seriously for "oh, 37 years".
Louis and wife Sue started developing the Labyrinth Woodworks in 1981 and these days a steady stream of tourists are attracted by the tricky little maze - a bigger version with a kilometre of paths is being developed - and all those puzzles.
Some of those on sale are particularly quirky. I'm intrigued by a wine bottle holder puzzle which you have to solve in order to extract the bottle.
"Ha, yes, that's a good one,"says Louis.
"There's an even better one which is a toilet roll holder. You have to solve the puzzle to get access to the toilet paper. We've sold out of those."
But even more amazing are the puzzles in his museum.
"Look at these," he says, producing three tiny puzzles ranging in size from a pea to an acorn. You're suppose to open them up and put them inside each other. I haven't solved them yet. My fingers are too big. They were made by a former micro-engineer with Nasa."
Then there's the puzzle based on a Gold Coast parking metre, where the object is to extract a coin. Or the set of boxes which can only be opened if you put them together in the right position. And so on.
We are just about to leave when Louis hands me a steel bolt with a nut welded on to it which I have to undo. I make the mistake of solving that one.
So, smiling fiendishly, he gives me another. This I can't work out. How does it go? No. What about? No. Get me out of here. You could go crazy if you stayed too long.
CHECKLIST
Getting there: The Labyrinth Woodworks is on the Waiotemara Gorge Rd which runs between Waiotemarama and Pakanae, both on SH12, in South Hokianga. Call (09) 405 4581.
Where to stay: Waitemarama Falls Lodge, also on Waiotemara Gorge Rd, is a stunning lodge surrounded by tranquil bush and misty waterfalls, where guests have sole occupancy. As a special treat you can arrange for host Rawiri Moetara - he and partner Candy Pettus live elsewhere on the property - to cook dinner using local produce. For us he produced seafood chowder, oysters kilpatrick and fish with kumara chips and salad, and it was superb. Call (09) 405 8702 for bookings.
Where to eat: Morrell's Cafe, in Waimamaku, on SH12, provides great food and good coffee.
Further information: See northlandnz.com.
Jim Eagles visited Hokianga as guest of Destination Northland.
