Agathis australis

KAURI

Kauri is the most famous of New Zealand native trees and one of the largest trees found anywhere in the world.

This magnificent tree grown only in New Zealand, once covered much of the area of North Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula.

The largest Kauri on record, known as the "Father of the Forests", grew at Mill Creek, Mercury Bay. It’s height was 21.8 m, to the first branch, with a girth of 23.43 m.
Tane Mahuta, the famous tree in Waipoua Forest, Northland, is 51.2 m high, with a girth of 17.2 m, and has been calculated to be over 2,100 years old.

These awesome Kauri trees, command a presence that is almost spiritual. Those remaining today average 30 m high, with a columnar trunk up to 3 m in diameter, being free of branches up to 18 m above ground.

Today this scarce resource is a prized possession. Kauri stumps are removed from where the Kauri forests once stood. Swamplands provide that spectacular kauri wood that has taken on a different appearance of the greens and browns and the mottled appearance that has a striking beauty.

A piece of Kauri wood taken from a gumfield near Whangarei has been shown by carbon dating to be 34,000 years old.

As well as the timber, Kauri Gum was greatly prized as an ingredient for the manufacture of high quality paints and varnishes. Exqusite specimens of Kauri Gum have been carved and polished. The combination of wood and gum crafted and polished looks magnificent.

Native Reserves give  the opportunity to take in their beauty and Museums provide well-documented history.