Peter Parsons spent his formative years in Dunedin. He moved to Melbourne, Australia in his early 20s to further his career.

In Melbourne, Peter lives in an historic 1893 building in the centre of the city. During the building’s conversion from offices to residential, he noticed the wooden floors under the Lino and asked for them to be polished, in preference to carpeting. The floor is New Zealand Kauri. 

Since 2020, Peter has been looking for a house lot around Dunedin. He had three criteria: 

1. Close to the coast, but not on the beach.
2. Rolling country, not flat and boring.
3. Two ways off the property in the event of a fire.

The land at Taieri Beach fulfilled his criteria, except it was 100 times larger than Peter was looking for! But it was so attractive, he purchased it anyway.

The purchase of the land at Taieri Beach in May 2022 created a minor dilemma: What to do with it? Running sheep seemed too much effort. Trees seemed better, but there is already a lot of pine in the region, and they do require maintenance. A native species was always preferred, and what better than New Zealand’s iconic tree giant? The land provided Peter with an opportunity to replace the Kauri that he has been walking on in Melbourne since 1997.

Research and discussions with Scion established that it was possible to grow Kauri trees if done carefully. A plan was established, and is now being implemented. It’s a passion project, and from the outset the trees were never going to be grown for harvesting. The forest will be for the future.