It was a public holiday and I met my sisters in the Manawatu for a family walk. The Manawatu estuary is the most important aquatic and wading bird habitat in the lower North Island and it was declared a Wetland of International Importance in 2005. I wanted my sisters to see the Godwits on our walk and I wasn’t disappointed. They are amazing birds.
I got to know the Godwit bird species when I lived up north at Snells Beach. These birds make a non-stop 11,000 km flight from Siberia. Godwits are not big gliding birds, they flap their wings the whole way. The Godwits arrive in September and leave in February / March.
There are other birds at the Estuary, the Banded dotterill (endemic), the Wrybill (endemic), and Royal Spoonbill (native) winter over here. There’s also the Shag (native), Spur-winged plover (native), Pied stilt (native), Oystercatcher (endemic), and White faced heron (native) that are there all year round. The Bar-tailed Godwit (native) and Lesser knot (native) summer over.
I think there were Lesser knots resting with the Godwits. They have shorter legs and bill and they return to Siberia to breed.
This is a small bush remnant between Wanganui and Wellington overlooking Lake Waiwiri, a dune lake. This area is a rare example of an uninterrupted transition from coastal wetland to mature, dry terrace forest. The whole coast was once covered in this dense and luxurious bush and sadly it’s all gone.
There are two islands on the lake, the larger is Papaitonga and the smaller is Papawhārangi. The smaller island was constructed by the Muaūpoko (Ngati Tara) people in the late 18th to early 19th century.
The reserve is home to the endangered birds like the elusive bittern and spotless crake.
People from the Muaūpoko tribe lived on the islands in the lake but they were wiped out in a battle against Te Rauparaha.
After the local Muaūpoko tribe attacked a group including Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha, they became a target for reprisal raids by Ngāti Toa. Despite retreating to artificial islands they had built in Lakes Papaitonga and Horowhenua, large numbers of Muaūpoko were killed, and survivors fled to the nearby Tararua Range.
The Evening Post published this item on Papaitonga on 6 November 1911:
Papaitonga – NATIONAL RESERVE?
Everything is eerie and silent; there are kiwi on the islet, but you only hear them at night, and the doleful morepork keeps them company. At a turn in the path, in the glooms of the tapu grove, an eerie thing confronts one — a human skull, stuck up on a short pole, grinning as if in menace, a silent warning to “keep off the grass !” This, one finds, is an isle of skulls, a Maori Golgotha, and over the ancient battle-ground and burial-ground that skull on its tapu stick mounts guard. A few yards further on, and in a little open space on the summit of the island, a memorial of another and more picturesque kind is found. A great canoe, an olden war-canoe, carved and painted, rears itself above the trees; one end is sunk firmly in the ground and stoutly braced to keep it upright. It is a stately memento mori, tapu to the manes of the tribal dead.
Sitting here on this thrice-tapu island with a Ngati-Ruakawa companion from the little village of Muhunoa, a mile or so away, one heard some thrilling tale of Papaitonga’s pact. For this quiet island was a lively spot in the cannibal days, the early twenties of last century, when Rauparaha and Rangihaeata and their musket-armed Northern warriors happened along. Papaitonga, like. Horowhenua, and in fact all this country from Paekakarikei to Manawatu and Rangitikei, was owned by the Muaupoko and Rangitane, and some kindred tribes. The Muanpoko had a stronghold on this islet; a stockade, or “tuwatawata,” encircled it There were many canoes on the lake; when danger threatened the people withdrew to the island, taking all their dug-outs with them.
It was in about the beginning of the year 1823 that Rauparaha and his Ngatitoa-and Ngati-Awa invaded and captured this district. Muaupoko brought their fate on themselves, to a certain extent, by a massacre in this vicinity; but the wily Rauparaha had intended to take the place anyway, so the murders only brought matters to a head a little quicker.
It is believed this pataka was built at Taheke on the shores of Lake Rotoiti in the 1870s.
It is said to have been built out of a large war canoe which was drawn overland from Maketu, on the coast of the Bay of Plenty, to Rotorua, Lake, a distance of about thirty miles, by Hongi, when that great Nga-Puhi warrior attacked Mokoia Island, in Rotorua Lake, in the year 1822. Source: THE DOMINION MUSEUM. Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 56, 4 September 1911, Page 6
In 1886 the pataka was purchased by Gilbert Mair, a soldier and government agent who lived among Te Arawa. He bought it for his brother-in-law Sir Walter Buller, a prominent naturalist and politician.
After being exhibited in London and Melbourne during the 1880s Te Takinga was erected on Sir Walter Buller’s estate. When he died the Buller family donated the house to the Dominion Museum.
Horowhenua Land Dispute : The arrival of other tribes in the Wellington region from 1822 onwards led to a number of conflicts over land ownership. Shown above are the opening lines of an article that was published in the Māori newspaper Te Waka Maori o Niu Tirani in December 1873. The article, printed in Māori and English, outlines a dispute over land at Horowhenua between the Muaūpoko and Ngāti Raukawa tribes.
Muaūpoko were drawn into the wars over land and authority in the 1860s, under the leadership of Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui (known to Pākehā as Major Kemp). Te Keepa saw the conflict as an opportunity to exact revenge on tribes that had humiliated Muaūpoko in the past. After the wars he used his influence to regain lands at Horowhenua through the Native Land Court. Some of this territory was sold in the 1880s for railway and settlement land, but subsequent intertribal disputes about its ownership led to protracted court hearings, parliamentary debate and finally a royal commission in 1896. In the process, Muaūpoko lost more land. Some was taken to pay for the commission costs, and Walter Buller, who had acted as Te Keepa’s lawyer, took Lake Papaitonga in Horowhenua as his fee.
There’s a lot in the Esplanade, a Forest and Bird walk, which leads on to a walk by the Manawatu River, a rose garden and playground and a wildlife recovery centre. It’s a popular place.
I checked out the Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery when I returned to Palmerson North for my next hospital appointment. There are four rehabilitation aviaries on public view, two breeding aviaries for whio and pāteke and a walkthrough aviary which is home to a variety of native birds and ancient tuatara. Entry was free.
Unfortunately the police state has now kicked in and you can now only go in to the wildlife centre if you have a vaccine pass 😦
All in all it’s a good place to visit but blighted by the unjust decisions of local and national govenment.
History: First settled some 400 years ago by Māori, the region is home to three iwi: Rangitāne O Manawatū, Ngati Raukawa and Ngāti Kauwhata. The Manawatū region takes its name from the river than runs through it. The Manawatū River was named by an explorer named Hau who had travelled down the coast from Taranaki, chasing after his runaway wife and her lover. Manawatū meaning ‘Heart Standing Still. Manawa meaning heart, and tu meaning standing still. Source: manawatunz.co.nz
Virginia Lake is Wanganui’s jewel, a really pretty lake on St John’s Hill. You’ll pass it if you’re heading west-northwest to Taranaki. It only takes about 45 minutes to walk around.
There’s also a bird aviary and the Winter Gardens, an art deco hot house. My favourite thing is the Higginbottom Fountain, installed in 1971, the year my family arrived in the Wanganui area. The copper fountain is in the shape of a lily. A 40-minute lighting display occurs every evening, coinciding with when the streetlights are switched on. The display can be activated at any other time by placing a gold coin into the slot.
The aquatic bird life is prolific, with lots of chicks to be seen on our walk.
The video features my young cousin, and a goose who remembered her from last time …
Virginia LakeThe Peter Pan statueThe Higginbottom fountain was modelled atfer the water lilyBy the gates, reminds me of Aslan
This is my first walk from Wanganui, my new / old hometown. Sadly we had to relocate and there will be no more Auckland / Northland walks for the forseeable future. We arrived back on the 7th November 2021, after enduring 82 days of lockdown in Auckland over one Covid case. Auckland is NZ’s largest city, and it’s still locked down, 112 days later.
There’s more freedom in the regions but discrimination as well.
I would have happily put a link for the cafe in the old caretaker’s cottage next to the Winter Gardens, but not after seeing their sign.
“Only Vaccinated Customers please”
I’m not able to go in. I’ve been having cancer treatment since November 2020, and for safety reasons have elected to wait until 2023 before even considering the so-called “vaccine.” So people like me are discriminated against.
We came back and had a picnic on the lawn in front of that cafe a few days later. I thought there’d be three friends but 30 people turned up. How much business are cafes like this going to lose?
Things are not going back to normal, but even if they did, I wouldn’t go back in there. I understand the cafes are between a rock and a hard place, but the sign excluding me was there before the 2nd December when NZ adopted the medical aparteid system.
We are also barred from DOC (Dept of Conservation) huts and camping sites. “For our health.”
You’ll hear us mention the NZ government on the walk. I wish the lion on the plinth at the gate would turn into Aslan and boot the witch out of Narnia.
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Note: the above cafe has appeared in the local paper since I wrote about this on the 7th December:
Owner of the Funky Duck Cafe Dave Hill said increased costs across the board alongside very low numbers of customers has them in a tough spot. Photo / Bevan Conley
This is a beautiful farm park at the end of Whangaparoa peninsula. It has everything – native bush full of native birds, a waterfall, views, a farm, beaches and a camping area. A pest proof fence has been constructed since our last visit in 2010.
There are some beautiful lakes in the Rotorua lakes district, and Lake Okareka is my favourite. This lake is in the same area as Lake Tarawera and the Blue and Green Lakes. I’ve canoed on it and ridden on the hills above. If you like bird watching there are lots of noisy water birds to see.
I like the Black Swans the most because they weren’t believed to exist. New Zealand’s Black swan was hunted to extinction by the Maori but black swans were brought over from Australia in the 1860s and there’s a population of approximately 50,000 today.
Patupaiarehe : The very rugged badlands of the central North Island became the sanctuary for early Patu-paiarehe tribes fleeing from the Eastern coastline of New Zealand over in the Hawkes Bay District or from the western coastline around Taranaki. The Ngati-Hotu of Hawkes Bay, first fled to the inland lakes. In the Rotorua District this included lakes Rotorua, Okataina, Okareka, Tikitapu, Tarawera, Rotomarama, Rerewhakaaitu, Rotoehu, and Rotama. The Patu-paiarehe tribes seemingly subsisted well in the district and their underground dwellings or other structures can be found throughout the area to this day. On the Western side of Lake Rotorua they occupied the high ground of Ngongataha. Source: Whakahoro
Lake Okareka : “Ōkareka means “the lake of sweet food”. In early times, Māori grew sweet potatoes or kumara around the outside of the lake.
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.
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.
Tawharunui peninsula is not far from where I live and I’ve been to the regional park several times .
It’s the first mainland island that combines farming, public recreation and conservation of native species. The aim is to create an open sanctuary free of plant and animal pests, which showcases how aspects of sustainable land management – recreation, conservation and farming – can be compatible.
The park is on a peninsula with a predator-proof fence to keep out animal pests. It is also close to islands, such as Little Barrier/Hauturu, and is a stepping-stone for birds such as kereru, kaka, bellbird/korimako and seabirds. The bellbirds reintroduced themselves as soon as the predator-proof fence went up. How did they know?
Evening kiwi walk
I’ve been out there twice at night to see kiwi with Ness from Kiwiness Tours. I highly recommend her tours, especially the evening kiwi walk.
Our latest kiwi walk with Ness was on the 7th November, 2020.
Walk: Northland 34
History of Tawharunui peninsula:
My friends the late Lyn and Fred Marshall lived, farmed and raised their family there before retiring to Snells Beach. Ness from Kiwiness Tours also grew up there, she was the rangers kid.
It’s a special place.
Tawharunui Regional Park with Little Barrier Island in the distance
The area was occupied from ancient times. In fact local tradition states that Te Ika roa ā Maui, ‘Maui’s long fish’ (the North Island) was hauled from the sea to the north east of Tāwharanui. After the fishing up of the land, the area was occupied by ancient peoples known as Ngāti Kui, Tūtūmaiao and Tūrehu (Wiripo Potene in G. Graham, 1927).
Local tradition also tells us that the famous ancestor and voyager Toi te huatahi visited the area approximately eight centuries ago and named many of its prominent features including Te Hauturu ō Toi (Little Barrier Island). The large island adjacent to Tāwharanui (Kawau Island) was named Te Kawau tū maro ō Toi, ‘the sentinel cormorant of Toi’, and the Hauraki Gulf was named Te Moana nui ō Toi, ‘the great sea of Toi’.
In local tradition Toi is credited with living for some time at Maraeroa on Hauturu (Little Barrier Island.) The descendants of Toi were known as ‘Tini ō Toi’ or ‘the multitudes of Toi’, and some of them settled in the area with the more ancient people who were already there. They in turn were absorbed by later migrations associated with several of the famous ancestral waka (canoes) from Polynesia.
At the time of first European contact the hapu (sub tribal groups) in occupation of the Tāwharunui area were Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Raupō.
The historic homestead is beautiful. My favourite feature is the stained glass window in the entrance foyer. I’ve been there several times before but it was the first visit for my husband and sister-in-law.
Highlights of the visit: the historic house and beautiful forest with it’s massive trees and bird-life. It’s not often you can walk through virgin bush with huge, ancient trees like Ratanui (photo on the left) and see incredibly rare forest birds like the Saddleback and the Hihi.
My own video – it’s nowhere near as good as above, but it shows the stables, and a bellbird feasting on nectar from red hot poker plants bordering the lawn.
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Bushy park, Wanganui
Bushy Park, Bellbird
Picture: The Twin Ponga path, a saddleback foraging on the forest floor, and a bellbird eating nectar by the lawn.
Walk: Wanganui 16
History
James Moore from the Shetland Islands arrived in New Zealand in June 1863. He and future brother-in-law James Currie founded the Bushy Park farm around 1865.
During the 1880’s the Moore/Currie partnership ended. The farm was prosperous and by 1890 it had become a significant property. Sadly during the 11 years from 1891 to 1902 the family perished, and the sole survivor was the youngest son, George Francis (Frank) Maitland Moore.
Frank commissioned C.Tilleard Natusch to design the Bushy Park Homestead and it was completed in 1906. He never married, and passed away in 1962 aged 85. He gifted his house and the attached forest to the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society.
“The seemingly never-ending maintenance of the old house was handled by teams of volunteers while further teams looked after the extensive grounds including lawns, hedges and tracks.
Frank Moore’s handyman, Ernie Paulger was the first custodian and retired in 1964. There were a number of custodians and managers in the thirty years following.”
7th Dec 2024 I went for another walk where we saw the rare hihi and saddleback birds. We also saw a bellbird. This video is of the birds encountered on our walk: Bushy Park birds, Dec 2024
Miranda on the Firth of Thames is a wetland of international significance. It’s a really important place for migratory birds as it’s part of the East Asian Australasian flyway.
Birds like the Godwit make a non-stop 11,000 km flight from Siberia. Godwits are not big gliding birds, they flap their wings the whole way. There are many different kinds of shorebirds here, but Godwits are my favourite.
The shell banks are unusual – they’re a succession of beach ridges called cheniers. This area is regarded as the finest example in the world of an active shell chenier plain.
We were on our way home from Whangamata so didn’t visit at the best time. You need to go 2-3 hours either side of high-tide. The Shorebird Centre is a good place to start – it has excellent information on the bird life. The walking track begins from the Bird Centre.
Waikato land wars
In 1863 the Maori village of Pukorokoro was shelled by the British gunboat Miranda at the beginning of the war in the Waikato. Should this area be named after a British gunboat?
NZShortWalks 