Kauri are trees, a kind of pine even, despite their leaves. This is not important though. Kauri are from a different time, a different world, living fossils, with such a size and can get several thousand years old. They had their world in the North of norther island before human set foot here, even long before the Maori. Then the white people arrived and started logging. It was uncredably hard the loggers´ lives, but they took what they could from this wood, perfect for building ships and houses as well as for furniture and art. Also the gum was used to produce linoleum and all sort of goods. The long straight trunks, only spreading to branches high up very asked for by anyone. From mid 19 century it took about 100 years till nearly all of these giant trees had vanished. Only in the 50ties it was when first people voices could be heard to be carful not to extinguish the Kauri. First nature reserves were formed and people started to become aware of the excicity of the trees. It´s a shamful chapter to humans, who they almost distroyed in 100years what had formed over several thousands.
And today as the Kauri is recognised for ist greatness, and people are caring for them, some disease has been imported, just recently, that makes the canopy go thin and eventually kills the giants. Who knows what had carried in the disease, if it is the weed spraying, the visitors, globalisation or the wood that has been used to build walkways to protect the roots in the Kauri forests
It has been unforgettable to ride through these forests, formed by the Kauri. From far away you reckoginse them by their wild canopy, close by you just see the trunk, like an elefant´s leg in a corn field. The trunks are smooth crayish-pinkish some with patterns of circles others with patches, they all grow straight up far into the sky. We get very quite around the Kauri, time gets a new dimension, everything seems to get a new perspective. They go under your skin these dinosors, for which our world dosn´t seem to have space anymore.