About Kauri

Kauri was alive and flourishing 200 million years ago, in the Jurassic Age the climate was uniformly warm and wet (no polar ice caps).
New Zealand was still situated close to Australia, only moving out during the Creataceous Age, 135-95 million years ago.

In this age, coal swamps developed as severe erosion redused the land mass. The sea steadily encroached over Northland, New Zealand, laying down large thick peaty deposits, reaching a climax 30 million years ago with 2/3 of Ancestral N.Z. underwater. 20 million years ago, earth movements caused the sea to withdraw and the coal/peat swamps to emerge.

The Kauri being harvested today was embalmed in peat swamp between 1200 to 50000 years ago. The exact reason why, remains a mystery. We do know that the last Ice Age crept in 65000 years ago and finished 'officially' 10000 years ago. It is also known that the podocarp forests of Northland survived, and we can guess that the cold sensitive Kauri may have suffered.

It is possible that after a prolonged drought (Ice Ages reduce rainfall), the dry peat was ignited by a nearby volcano or lightning strike.
These fires smoulder for months and would undermine the trees, eventually toppling them in all directions.
Occasionally the trees lie in one direction, suggesting tsunamis, cyclones or volcanic shock waves. (A huge volcanic eruption 1200-1400 years ago created Lake Taupo.)

Most of the trees are large, indicating a mature forest susceptible to a 'domino effect'. Green/brown leaves found in the peat under the trunks, and the lack of rot and insect invasion suggest a calamity.

Acidity and the anaerobic nature of the ground water have ensured its survival, making it one of the oldest workable timbers. Ancient Kauri timber has a beautiful and distinctive grain. When polished, it has a deep golden colour, with hues, textures and sheens that shimmer in the light. The difficulty of working this wood is compensated by its unique beauty and the fact that each piece is a genuine antiquity, salvaged from history

Majestic Kauri, still grow in Northland and Coromandel of New Zealand.
The Largest is 'Tame Mahuta', God of the Forest, who resides in the Waipoua Forest on Northlands West Coast.
It is 1200 years old, 52 meters high, with a 14 meter girth.
The 'Axe Age' of the 1800's proved to be the most devastating for N.Z.'s most ancient tree, with most Kauri now confined to reserves

This information is courtesy of Tom Capey and NZ Woodturner