PM's chip off the old block leaves mark on gift to China

John Key (left) tries his hand at carving a piece of the 3500-year-old kauri. Chinese lion dancers (right) lead the way as John Key and Ambassador Zhang Limin leave Rotowhio Marae in Rotorua. Photos / Christine Cornege

John Key tapped away at New Zealand's seven-tonne gift to China yesterday as that country prepares for the World Expo in Shanghai.

In Rotorua with Chinese Ambassador Zhang Limin, the Prime Minister took a mallet and chisel to what will be a 10m kauri waharoa, or gateway, shaped in the form of a waka, that will be the centrepiece of the $30 million Kiwi pavilion later in the year.

Mr Key made a good go of carving, keeping a pretty straight line on timber thought to be 3500 years old.

However, after his recent doodling of a new flag, he joked that his artistic skills hardly extended to woodwork.

"Pretty abysmal, but I've got to say it's slightly better than my ability to sing, dance or draw. So on that basis, I wouldn't give up my day job."

Mr Key said that because of the importance of the economic relationship, worth $10 billion last year in two-way trade, the pavilion would act as a shopfront to an estimated 70 million visitors and was also a chance to entice Chinese tourists.

Carvers at Te Puia, the New Zealand Maori Art and Crafts Institute, have been working on the gift for the past two months. It is making its way overseas this week and is only 70 per cent finished as students will travel to the expo to work on site.

Weighing over 25 tonnes when it was pulled out of a swamp, the kauri is thought to have been buried for 1000 years.

Master waka builder Hekenukumai Busby carved the basic hull shape before sending it south to Rotorua.

Te Puia carving school chief James Rickard said it signified not only how Maori, Pakeha and others made their way here but also the journey to understand other cultures.

"For us it's about getting into the guts of a culture and understanding how they are like us."

Chinese figures will eventually adorn the portal and Mr Rickard said it was fitting that Maori explorer Kupe's story was prominent in the design as the waka, like Kupe, would not be returning to the country.

It is likely to be given to a museum after the expo.