Walk 67, 5th June 2021
This walk is off SH4, south of Te Kuiti. It’s a rough, moderately graded track up and down a steep hill in the bush reserve. You’ll need tramping shoes or boots if it’s not dry. We walked the track in winter and we had to be careful we didn’t slip in places.
If you go in the early morning or evening you are likely to hear the kokako, a rare native bird featured on our $50 notes. This reserve is a sanctuary for them. I didn’t see or hear any, but I did see a tomtit.
Mapara means ‘heartwood’ or wood saturated in resin.
Walk: Waikato and King Country 36
Links
The Mapara Wildlife Management Reserve is in steep hill country covered in a lowland forest of mixed broadleaf and scattered podocarps, 260-600 m above sea level. It is isolated from other forests by surrounding pasture and young plantation forests. Extensive control of introduced mammalian browsers and predators was undertaken between 1989 and 1997. This greatly increased kokako breeding success and allowed new pairs to establish.
http://www.notornis.osnz.org.nz/system/files/Notornis_53_2_199.pdf
Kokako: NZ Geographic
The info board at the reserve said that elder of the Ngati Maniapoto tribe Tiwha Bell was a strong advocate for the work DOC did in Mapara. He has a strong affinity with Mapara – his father was one of the original land owners.
Other places to visit in the area:
NZShortWalks 