180 million year old petrified forest in Curio Bay in the Catlins. This forest was destroyed by lahars caused by volcanic eruptions multiple times during the Jurassic Period, back when New Zealand was still part of Gondwanaland. At that time, the forest was made up of ferns, cycads and trees resembling today's kauri and matai. At that time, birds hadn't even evolved yet! Land critters such as ancestors of the tuataras (lizzards), frogs, wetas (giant beetles) and dinosaurs were just starting to make their homes there. This forest remains one of the best specimens of a petrified Jurassic forest in the world. Just see all these tree trunks in a cluster. Even the centers are hollowed out and you can see the wood grains, just like a stump in the forest today.