How Big Were They?
I imagine the first settlers pulling into the Abel Tasman, "By god, sailors, it seems I've struck wood". I would have loved to be there, not just to laugh at the captain, but to see it all for the first time. Maybe I got a glimpse of what it was like last year, pulling up on an old steamboat to the Endeavour Inlet. A stadium of green.
This week, I got curious: how big were the trees when the European settlers first arrived? In short, the Kauri were over 50 meters, with a girth of up to 16 meters. Kahikatea sometimes reached a height of 65 meters, the tallest indigenous tree. And the Totara were 3 meters in diameter. Wanting to educate myself more, I clicked on. What I found was a brief history of logging.
I read about William Brownlee, who arrived in New Zealand from Scotland with his family in 1864. Seeing the trees in the Pelorus region and having the skills in sawmilling, he started working. His business turned over the equivalent of 2.65 million NZD (in today's money) in its first 2 years. The story was a predictable one over the next 130 years.
More people saw the opportunity. More boats and buildings were built for New Zealand and Britain. Buildings then needed wood in Australia. Native trees began to deplete. Exotics started to be planted. Advancements during World Wars sped up the manufacturing equipment. Native trees are cut down at a quicker rate. More exotics come in. The Chinese want more wood, the Americans want more wood. Everybody loves New Zealand forests. The conservationists love the forest for the forest. The loggers love the forests for the wood. And the government loves the forests for control.
So what was the resolution? Today, instead of more overseas arborists, let's attract more overseas tourists. The government keeps control, and keeps the conservationists…somewhat calm. The loggers can still log and sell locally and overseas, mostly pine.
My faith in humanity remains where it’s been. But there was a part of my research that I was inspired by. Meet from the year 1911, the New Zealand bushman:
Clad in blue “dungaree” trousers and coarse grey shirt, with clasp-knife in his belt, he plies his long handled, keen-bladed axe with lithe, supple movements …He is of spare rather than of heavy build, but every muscle in his frame is of iron blended with elasticity. His arms and bearded face are tanned to dark mahogany, and his eye glows with the steady, keen light that only those who live their lives with nature possess.’
Sounds like my dream man.
Physically healthy and energetically balanced. I’ve noticed a greater sense of balance within myself, even with only 5-10 hours a week of outside work. Whilst this work may include removing many healthy rooted trees. Nothing in life is 100% pure and perfect. And if I got paid enough money for me and my future family to be financially free, I’d work in the woods like they did.
Learn bush lore. Have a property near the river. Watch the logs drift down. Work long physical 6-day weeks, with a group of like-minded men. Pause to appreciate the surroundings and then return to (mindfully) tearing it all down. The wives blow the horn when dinner is ready. There’s no alcohol; instead, on a Friday, smoke a pipe in the bush.
That would be a good life.