Kauri Trees

Today we usually go to help in the community garden but when we got there, we were the only ones there. It looked like there’d been a lot of helpers the day before so even the weeding didn’t need to be done. About once a week, they have a special contingency of inmates from the jail come to work so they must have been there. Since there was no garden work, we decided to hike to the Kauri Grove about a half hour hike up the hill. We’ve been wanting to take this hike for months but its been too wet and muddy.

     Kauri Trees are another species indigenous to New Zealand and just in the northern part of the north island. They can grow over 150 feet tall and even though they grow low-lying limbs, they shed these as they grow taller making their wood of mostly parallel grain. That made them highly sought after for ship building in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. They can also be over 15 feet in diameter and live up to 1000 years!

Most harvesting of these trees has now ceased and the remaining groves are protected by law. We happen to have a grove of 20-30 trees just outside of town up a very steep trail. But the walk was worth it. Here is a view of town from the grove:

 and I made Elder O’Neal pose for one:

 And it's still only spring!    

Kia Ora, Elder and Sister O’Neal