Tane Mahuta

This is the Tane Mahuta - God of the Forest.
I cannot do justice to this living kauri tree which is 2000 years old. It is thought to have been a seedling at the time of Christ. It is 30 + metres in circumference and when I came upon it in the forest it literally took my breath away as it is a giant, even without its crown, in a forest of huge trees and still houses many epiphytes in its branches. the kauri tree produces a gum which is used in resin and which is also made into amber coloured jewellery.