Went for a lovely walk in the bush today - the trees all looked fresh after a little rain (the tail end of Cyclone Lusi gave us mostly wind, and a tiny bit of rain in our area). This is a young kauri tree - a ricker. The northern area of New Zealand used to have many kauri, but these were milled for ship building and housing. The younger rickers were used for ships' masts, as the timber is resistant to rot.
A majestic tree, it takes forever to be this big and you still call it young. I bought one more than 10 years ago from the upper North and it is only just above 1 metre tall.
Sorry we didn't manage to meet in NZ Dianne.......my fault for messing you about on the 24th....medical matters spoilt that arrangement unfortunately. One day!! Glad there has been some rain in your drought.
@lilminimonka@dianeburns Kauri are real giants - they can live for 2000 years, grow to 50 metres tall and even get to 16 metres trunk girth - they really are impressive. Worryingly is the problem that there is a disease spreading in some areas - its called Kauri die back and seems to be threatening some of our giants. @fishers@happypat@hermann@yaorenliu@andreajoy@windridge@rustymonkey@julzmaioro@swilde thanks - they are a lovely tree and hopefully this kauri die back disease doesn't take a hold!! In some areas, the Dept of Conservation have stopped people going on tracks nearby to kauri forest.
It's pictures and info like what you've shared here about your amazing trees in N.Z. that make being a part of the 365 community all the more interesting and wonderful. I so hope the Kauris can be protected from disease.
A stunning shot of a majestic tree with that freshness you only get just after the rain. I have not heard the term 'ricker' before … rushes off to wictionary.
