Kauri Country

28-Mar-2000 thru 29-Mar-2000

Kauri trees are the largest trees in New Zealand - possibly the second largest trees in the world behind California's mighty sequoia. Northern New Zealand was once covered with Kauris; now less than 0.03% of them remain

A picturesque church on a Morai



Pampas Grass
SGK calls it "The Allergy Plant". It is quite common in NZ



Magic mushroom on the side of a Rimu tree



The pathway to the giants
If you look closely you can see the DR's head poking out



Tane Mahuta - God of the Forest
The dimensions of Tane Mahuta are:.
Trunk Height 17.7m.
Trunk Girth 13.8m.
Total Height 51.5m.
Volume 244.5m³.
A nearby sign said:
In Maori cosmology Tane is the son of Ranginui the Sky Father and Papatuanuku the Earth Mother. Tane tore his parents apart, breaking their primal embrace, to bring light, space and air and allowing life to flourish.
Tane is the life-giver - all living creatures are his children.
This is the largest living Kauri tree in New Zealand. It is difficult to accurately estimate the age of Tane Mahuta. But, it may be that Tane Mahuta sprang from seed around 2000 years ago, during the lifetime of Christ.



Group shot in front of Tane Mahuta



Inside a felled kauri



A thistle on a mountainside



Yes, we are really in New Zealand



Helen in her wellie's




Helen and SaraGrace try out the logging equipment



Here we are with the Bullock team that hauls the logs



Bullocks



Typical scenery - 100 years ago this would have been dense forest