Nelson's Kaihu Kauri

The New Zealand Kauri or (Agathis Australis) is New Zealand's biggest and grandest of trees.
In the days of the early Maori the removal of a live tree would bring about a large ritualistic ceremony. In some cases the Kauri log was used to make extravagant canoes with beautifully detailed carvings.

In the time of European settlement the value of the Kauri as a clear and easily worked timber didn't go unnoticed. Kauri logs by the tons were removed for exporting and domestic use. The destruction of our Kauri forests that followed was immense. This is the main reason why all the living Kauri trees are now protected.

Between 30 to 50 thousand years ago there was a major natural disaster, which wiped out vast masses of Kauri trees.
Today we recover the victims of this disaster from beneath the ground where it has been preserved to make our beautiful Kauri pieces. The different types of soils, in which the Kauri is buried in can determine the dramatic effects seen in some of our more highly featured products.