1087 Year Old Kauri Tree Made Into Staircase

140 Ton Log Cut to Create 50 Ton Staircase

The Kauri tree is native to New Zealand. The wood is incredibly hard and prized by wood carvers. It is also hard to come by.

Imagine the delight and awe when you are confronted with this gigantic staircase made from a single log–and only a small portion of the log on top of that.

The tree is estimated to have been 1087 years old before it fell.

Relax–no chainsaw cut down this magnificent tree–carbon dating confirms the tree was dropped more than 45,000 years ago! It has been perfectly preserved by being in a swamp all those years.

Getting the tree out of the swamp was no easy task. The log was extracted in 1994–but only after it broke 2 winch ropes! Sadly, the tree was not able to be recovered in one piece.

The crew firstly tried extracting the tree in one piece, but after snapping 2 winch ropes with a breaking strain of 90 tonnes each, and pulling apart 2 x 2.5 inch shackles, cut a 110 tonne section off, pulling that out first, and the remaining 30 tonne piece afterwards.

A new shop was being built and it was decided that the log would make an incredible centerpiece, and staircase.

Over 500 man hours were required to fulfill that vision.

Now the staircase is visited by more than 100,000 annually.

Thanks to Ancient Kauri Kingdom for this story, to learn more click here.

Photo by DavidWallPhoto.