Saturday, February 09, 2008

Seeing red

Suddenly it was all too much. It was Friday morning. The traffic light was on red. The car in front was very bright ... and red ... and the driver’s hair was a brilliant red and shining in the sunshine!

The hill in front is another of Auckland’s many volcanoes. Named One Tree Hill – it is actually no tree hill … but that’s a long and rather sad story.

8 Comments:

Blogger OldLady Of The Hills said...

Hi there....Michele sent me today and I apologize for writing your name wrong...My eyesight is not the best...So I put an "E" where and "O" should be...!
I don't think I knew that Aukland has Volcanos....In fact, I KNOW I didn't know...lol! Do they ever erupt? Or are they sort of benign....I'm hoping it's the latter...!

10:46 pm  
Blogger Omykiss said...

the latter ... I'm hoping too .... welcome oldoldlady .....

10:56 pm  
Blogger Kay Cooke said...

Hi thanks for dropping by my blog - cos I then went over to yours - and love it!

11:37 pm  
Blogger Omykiss said...

welcome chiefbiscuit and fellow kiwi ... yes ... i liked your blog too. thanks.

10:18 pm  
Blogger Andi said...

Here in the States there is (maybe was-I haven't seen it in a long time) a show called "One Tree Hill."

10:42 pm  
Blogger Catherine said...

Haven't they planted another tree there yet? Or are they still arguing over whether it should be a pine or a totara?
Here from Michele's, late on a Sunday night - I guess I should be heading off to bed

11:30 pm  
Blogger granny p said...

Can we hear the story? Or read it, rather..

11:41 pm  
Blogger Omykiss said...

Hi BLUEST, what is the 'one tree hill' show was about?

Hello catherine and grannyp ... they're still arguing ... here's the story from wikipedia.

When Auckland was founded as a colonial town a tree stood near the summit which gave the hill its English name. Two accounts identify it as a pohutukawa (metrosideros excelsa). This tree was cut down by a white settler in 1852, in an act of vandalism in one account, or for firewood in another. It seems likely this was a different tree from the totara (podocarpus totara) which, as a sacred tree, had given the hill one of its Maori names. A radiata pine was planted in the 1870s to replace the previous totara.

Until 2000, a lone pine tree stood next to the obelisk. This tree was the survivor of a group of pines planted to replace the tree which had given Maungakiekie its English name.

The tree was later attacked twice with chainsaws by Māori protesters (partly because it was not a native New Zealand species and thus considered an insult). The first attack happened on 28 October 1994, the anniversary of the 1835 Declaration of Independence. A second attack on the 5th of October 2000 left the tree unable to recover and so it was removed due to the risk of it dying and falling down.

Partly due to uncertainty as to what species of tree should be replanted (a new pine or a tree native to New Zealand), the summit stands empty at the moment, except for the obelisk. A new nickname, "No(ne) Tree Hill", soon became popular. Plans are ongoing to plant a grove of pohutukawa and totara trees at the summit, but concerns by local iwis over Treaty of Waitangi claims have so far prevented any actual planting.

12:38 pm  

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