Having to Thank- Yet Again - my great friend Paul for a wonderful Knife. Paul bought me this Knife because it is made with what GEC Market as Ancient Kauri Wood, from the Ranches of
New Zealand...
We here call it swamp Kuari- often around 40 to 65 Thousand Years old- yeah.... old Man- older than Paul by just a Tad.
I was speaking to Paul about the terminology used on the Label of this Beautiful knife and how it differed between the two Countries- I thinks it's neat, we here dont call our farms Ranches- Paul was saying that a Grower of produce is called a Farmer, we here in New Zealand call them Growers, then Paul was saying that the Farmers who deal with Animals are called Ranchers, we here call them Farmers.
In the South Island where the Farms are HUGE, because of the Mountainous type of land- the amount of head ( animal ) per Acre gets fewer because of the lack of Grass and Rocks etc - so these farms tend to get BIG! these are called Stations.
Paul really put a lot of thought into this Knife becuase of the Kauri, We here in new Zealand consider the Kauri Tree a marvelous and sacred tree that we are Blessed to have the Honour of sharing our Country with such magnificence.
The Maori absolutely love this Tree and protect ( as the NZ Nation does ) this tree as their Ancestors have such close connections with this Tree, and the Trees feature in the Maori myths strongly.
Typical white boys landed in their big boats in the 1800's come along and cut them nearly all down - many to have been over Thousands of years old- and they were cut down!!
- Oh man...what a loss... I dont think about it too deeply because thats extremely upsetting thinking a tree THAT old...just to be cut down for framing or Weather Boards for Houses.... just..well thats enough of that.
The largest recorded Kauri tree was known as the ‘The Great Ghost' and had a trunk diameter of 8.5m (28ft) prior to being killed by fire around 1890.
Swamp Kauri wasn't cut down by Man- of course being that old- this was LONG buried before any Human touched foot in
New Zealand, so the excavation of such reclaiming of the Kauri is allowed by permit.
So...after Duncan side tracking to a rant there, Paul asked that I use this Knife, and My friend- with all the Thanks that I could offer you- I offer you all the Thanks I can - I love this stout tough Knife, I have carried it a lot, I love the Blade configuration of that Stout Clip- lovely designed short but styly Spey- just like some of the older Cutler firms did, I do have a couple buried away somewhere with this short styling of either a Clip or Spey, and of course this Great 57 has a Punch as well!
This knife looks quite different now Paul, I had it Sharp as a Razor now - no longer "sticky" to touch the edge of the Blades but still careful to handle - worked hard since I have had it and its taking on a lot of Patina with my fruit that I eat during the day as well! - so I must take some shots of" after "- as you cant quite see too much Patina in these Photos!
paulhilborn
THANK YOU my friend, I would like to Welcome back Home my Swamp Kauri that adorns my 57 knife to the Shores of New Zealand, where you will accompany me maybe one day to the same place you once stood 65 thousand years ago!
Please see a magnificent example of a stunning Kauri Tree we have the pride to Share space here in New Zealand with this absolutely beautiful, Beautiful tree, this is the best living specimen of the kauri is an ancient tree known as
Tāne Mahuta (meaning 'Lord of the Forest' in Maori). The tree is New Zealand's largest known living tree, with a height of 51.2m (168ft) and a 4.4m (14ft) diameter trunk. The tree is located in Waipoua Kauri Forest, Northland, and is thought to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years old. According to Maori mythology, Tāne is the son of Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatuanuku, the earth mother, and he created the space and air where all living things dwell by pushing the sky and the earth apart with the strength of his legs.
I'll probably edit the schedule a little so that I carry that canoe the week of Christmas (and maybe every 26 weeks thereafter to keep it in sync.)
