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DOC hut at Waipoua |
Waipoua Stream |
Big Trees The kauri forests once dominated much of the northland, but their beautiful timber, valuable gum and the unfortunate propensity of young kauri to resemble pre-assembled ship's masts saw the destruction of much of these forests. Today, some superb remnant patches are protected for our enjoyment and Waipoua is one of the better ones, containing the two largest kauri in New Zealand. We could not leave Waipoua without a walk through the forest of tall kauri, rimu, towai. kohekohe and other tree species, to pay our respects to Tane Mahuta "Lord of the Forest" and Te Matua Ngahere "The Father of the Forest".
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Some 2000 years ago, a kauri seed germinated in this soil. Today it has become Tane Mahuta, 51.5m high, 13.8m in diameter and 258 cubic m in volume. The clean lines of its massive trunk direct your gaze up into its broad crown, towering over the rest of the forest canopy and home to over 30 species of epiphyte, fern and moss. There are a lot of taller kauri than Te Matua Ngahere, standing at just under 30 metres, but none with a bigger girth (16.7m), making it the second biggest kauri at 244 cubic m. It stands a kilometre or so away from Tane Mahuta , in a scattered grove of younger (i.e. only several hundred years old) kauri, the elegant lines of their trunks reaching up far above the tallest of the other tree species about them. These giant kauri are truly impressive trees. |
Big Seas
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