the coromandel peninsula is a rugged landscape with ocean coasts on three sides and strings of little islands ... inland are many beautiful streams and waterfalls ... before the white people (pakeha) came, large kauri forests covered much of the island ... kauri trees are unique - they have long straight and very big trunks (a fully grown kauri can reach 60 metres and have a trunk five metres or more in diameter) and the highest volume of timber of any known tree. because of that they were milled excessively for many decades and almost extinguished. now brave re-foresting efforts are underway, but that will need a long breath: kauri tree are slow-growing and can need 1000 years to reach their full size!
