(photograph © Kiwidutch)
Yes, another post from my retroactive journal of our tour of New Zealand (December 2011-January 2012) and yes, we are still in the Kauri Museum.
In this post I’m looking at some amazing logs… and in particular and how they sit within the annals of history.
Unlike other parts of the world New Zealand doesn’t have a long history of human inhabitation stretching back thousands of years (it is estimated that Maori only arrived in New Zealand between 500-800 years before the white settlers did) but amazingly it does have these massive trees which have a long and enduring history of their own.
Dating this particular tree tells us that it was a sapling in roughly the year 1100, so many events have happened in history whilst it lived and quietly grew into the giant it was when it was felled.
Some smaller Kauri stumps are also on show to give and idea of how weather conditions, both good and bad, effected the speed of growth, and to give an idea of how big the trees were at various stages of their life.
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
(photograph © Kiwidutch)
That’s something to make you think, isn’t it? I love the idea of that magnificent tree already standing tall and proud when most of the events of our ‘modern’ civilization were yet to be enacted!
Comment by The Wanderlust Gene — June 11, 2012 @ 1:06 am |
It puts our puny little lives and thoughts of grandeur and self achievement to shame…we are but tiny specks of dust blown away in a puff of wind compared to the “life ” that these beauties lead (in a tree way of leading lives, that is LOL)… If only they could talk.
Comment by kiwidutch — June 11, 2012 @ 8:04 pm |
I find them very comforting, like the rock solid, stoic old man my father became … I’m sure they ‘talk’, if we could but listen.
Comment by The Wanderlust Gene — June 12, 2012 @ 2:11 am
Yes ineed… we should be listening to Mother Nature right now too now… not just to trees, but to oil, minerals, water supplies… Sadly the human race suffers from selective deafness.
Comment by kiwidutch — June 12, 2012 @ 6:46 am
You’ve covered a lot of ground with your New Zealand posts, and I have so enjoyed them as NZ is on the top of the list of places I have visited in recent years. A small place with much history and providing big memories.
Comment by lulu — June 11, 2012 @ 11:40 am |
Still MORE to come Lulu !!!…and like anywhere it is always EVEN better to see it in person if you can! … and one visit is never enough, right?
Comment by kiwidutch — June 11, 2012 @ 8:00 pm |
I would LOVE this museum! Surrounded by so much natural history. The sense of being so small….we are a mere blip on this earth while these trees have seen it all. Amazing.
Comment by milkayphoto — June 15, 2012 @ 1:14 pm |
I know that scenery in NZ is brilliant but I can honestly say that visiting this museum was one of the highlights of our trip (for me) … if we are back in the area I’m making sure I have time to go again!
This tree puts the length of our lives into perspective, I felt honoured and humbled to stand by these trees.
Comment by kiwidutch — June 15, 2012 @ 4:33 pm |