Waipoua Forest

Between Aranga and Waimamaku, on highway 12, this forest contains three quarters of New Zealand's remaining kauri trees. Within the forest's 2,500 hectares, there are a number of walking and tramping tracks, including a wheel-chair access to Tane Mahuta - Lord of the Forest one of the largest trees in the world: 51m. high, with a girth of over 13m.

For more info about kauri trees and Waipoua Forest go to:

Department of Conservation

Waipoua Forest Trust

The Kauri Tree

Kauri (Agathis australis) is one of the world's largest trees. Native to Northern New Zealand, it produces an excellent quality of timber and also gum that can be used by industry.

The Kauri logging period of Northland started in the 1860s and reached it's zenith at the turn of the last century. The demand for building timber increased with the level of immigration and the gum trade was encouraged by a rise in prices from 1865.

The Kauri trade was instrumental in the development of Auckland but more so for the upper Northern provinces. Gum stores, sawmills, and logging ports all became centres of settlement.