Walk 51, evening of 7th November 2020

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?

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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.

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.

Source: Tawharunui – Our History

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Links

Tawharunui Regional Park walks

Kiwis for kiwi

Kiwiness Tours