OpinionOpinion byAnna MillerOther·28 May, 2026 01:59 AM5 mins to readDeposits from the Whakamaru supereruption are pictured here on Chatham Island. Photo / Katherine Holt, CC BY-NC-NDSome 350,000 years ago, the centre of New Zealand’s North Island appeared much different from the mountainous, scrub-covered landscape it is today.Amid a glacial period, temperatures were colder and conditions harsher. Vast beech and podocarp forests blanketed the region, providing habitat for abundant native birdlife.
It was against this
