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New Zealand Champion "Tane Mahuta"
Kauri or Agathis australis
Waipoua National Forest Northern North Island, New Zealand
Circumference = 540 inches (45 feet)
Height = 169 feet
Volume = 8,635 cubic feet
Estimated Age = 2,100 years
I've seen the redwoods but this boy was big. Everyone was quieted by the enormous size especially since you don't see him till you round a turn in the forest. People were "reverential", in his presence. For me, I'd have to place this in the top three places I've been with walking up to the base of Cheops pyramid in Gisa and the Grand Canyon ads the other two...so far[
].
Tane Mahuta is New Zealand's tallest Kauri Tree, growing in Waipoua Forest on the northern end of North Island. Its massive smooth, gray-white trunk rises 59 feet before a branch appears. The gigantic specimen is a remanent of the tremendous ancient subtropical rain forest that once grew there, a survivor of 200 years of intensive logging. By counting rings from felled trees of similar circumference, Tane Mahuta is believed to be 2,100 years old.