Ancient kauri log welcomed on to marae

Ngawha marae near Kaikohe has welcomed this giant to its grounds this week.

The huge swamp kauri log was unearthed at Top Energy’s Ngawha geothermal power station site.

The ancient tree, 16m long and weighing 60 tonnes, was found in February by contractors doing earthworks for the power station expansion.

The kauri was found 9m deep and was the only one uncovered at the site, Top Energy chief executive Russell Shaw said.

The company began earthworks for the expansion in 2017 and had excavated 900,000cu m of soil, before the rare find, he said.

The tree was blessed by a kaumatua, before it was excavated under supervision of the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Top Energy had decided to gift the kauri to tangata whenua, Ngati Rangi ki Ngawha.

‘‘There was no doubt in my mind that the ancient log should come under the guardianship of Ngawha marae,’’ he said.

Marae komiti (committee) chairman Richard Woodman described the find as a precious cultural artefact.

It was a remnant from an ancient kauri forest that had been buried and preserved in clay up to 50,000 years ago.

The ancient tree has been topped and tailed to allow removal to the Ngawha Marae, where the now 14metre log was welcomed with a powhiri.

Mr Woodman said there would be discussions with surrounding hapu before any decisions were made on what to do with the timber.