Kaawhia Community Board
Trip to the Forestry.
09/01/2025
On a beautiful Thursday morning we gathered at the Forestry Headquarters.
Counciler Kit Jefferies and his Wife Di along with two of their grandchildren, Chairperson Geoff Good, Richard Harpur and myself.
On arrival I glanced over to the waharoa which stood very majestic with the sun warmly shinning down. The words on the top read “Rongo Maa Taane” (the God of Kuumara) who welcomed us before hopping onto the van along with Hano Ormsby and Vanessa.
Hano explained the history and the early humble beginnings of the Tainui-Kaawhia forestry and the role of TKI. I found it interesting to hear how the trees were cut and the hard manual labour employed by the forestry workers back in the day! Now everything is digitalised, automating the huge machinery powering in front of us while we all stood in awe watching this heavy-duty piece of machinery in action!
Following this we clambered back onto our van, travelling to Paakarikari for a site visit.
The last time I was out at the forestry was for the blessing for the whenua back in August 2024. We drove along the road travelling amongst the pine trees and turning down heading towards the moana. The surprise of seeing the blue calm waters of the sea was a pleasant one but what a transformation from the last time being there!
The whenua sure had been peeled back with many trees having already been harvested and trucked out, travelling along the roads of Kaawhia to become part of this country’s exports.
I would like to thank and acknowledge both Hano and Vanessa for sharing their time and stories with us. I’m sure the Kaawhia Community Board took away a lot of learnings from the visit.
Ngā whakamanawa, Hinga Whiu.