Meet the tree-Rex

Rakaia has a giant salmon. Taihape has a giant gumboot. Masterton has giant golden shears.

Now the Lower Buller Gorge officially has T-Rex.

Technically, T-Rex has been growing happily on his perch at Uranium Point beside the Buller River for many years. It did not grow into a spectacular tree shaped like a huge dinosaur overnight.

However, while known locally as T-Rex for as long as anyone can remember, the tree has finally ‘‘made it". On Google Earth, T-Rex is listed as a destination in its own right.

T-Rex does not even need to be maintained or pruned — the bigger, the scarier. Just stick up a sign — preferably not designed by a consultant but the winner of a children's art competition instead.

The 20-metre towering rimu beauty has entertained children for decades and perhaps driven parents even nuttier.

"Are we getting near T-Rex?" asks many a whiny voice from the back seat on every trip out of Westport — whether it be driving north, south, east or back west.

T-Rex also regularly features on social media, especially after floods, with people wondering how the tree has fared. 

By Rose O'Connor of the West Coast Messenger