New Zealand Walk: Ducks, Gnomes and Dinosaurs: Just a normal day in the Whirinaki Conservation Park
Just a normal day In the Whirinaki Conservation Park
There aren’t many places in New Zealand I haven’t heard of, so when a friend told me about the Whirinaki Conservation Park, I sat up a little straighter.
You’d be forgiven for not knowing it exists either and therein lies its’ allure.
Whirinaki covers a 56,000ha area sandwiched between the central volcanic plateau to the south, the Kaingaroa Plateau to the west; and the Ikawhenua and Huiarau Ranges to the east.
In Maori, it’s known as Te Puaa-Tāne, the abundance or flowering of Tāne, our god of the forest.
An apt moniker when you consider that Whirinaki has 51 endangered species (Zealandia EcoSanctuary has 40); such as the North Island Brown Kiwi, red and yellow-crowned kākāriki, kākā, whio, kārearea, short-tailed bats to name a few; and is one of the finest examples of low-land podocarp forest left in the world.
Tucked away down here at the bottom of world, New Zealand is a young island with a relatively new historical record. We don’t have 2000 years of architectural history to offer the world.
Our natural history is our World Heritage and our podocarp forest is a world treasure. Of the five types of podocarps trees, Whirinaki has the ‘big five.’ Kahikatea, miro, rimu, tōtara and matai. There are roughly 130 podocarps per hectare whereas common native forest only has around 30.
Some of these giants are 1,000 years old and three metres in diameter. How many people with linked arms does it take to circle a trunk that size? A lot.
Podocarp is a lovely word to say, but what does it mean? Basically, a big tree that has fleshy seed cones. Why is that exciting you ask? Because these trees fed the dinosaurs. Not these exact trees of course, but their ancient ancestors.
These trees are our last botanical link to the age of the dinosaurs and Whirinaki contributes to the last remaining 5% of this type of forest in the North Island. They tell us what dinosaurs ate, how they foraged and what nutrients they gained from their food. Think of it like a wholefoods market for the discerning vegan dinosaur.
A British botanist called David Bellamy is to thank for the Whirinaki’s environmental renaissance. Sadly, the world lost Bellamy last December, but in his hey-day he was an all-singing, alldancing conservation juggernaut. Imagine David Attenborough had an eccentric, garden-gnomish cousin. That’s Bellamy. Thanks to his popularisation of environmental activism our little slice of dinosaur-heaven received worldwide attention.
He got rather excited about the Whirinakis’ bountiful riches and featured it in a 90’s television show called Moa’s Ark. A heated tussle between Bellamy and local forestry companies, who sought
to fell these trees, thankfully ended with a government ban on native tree logging in 1984. The government established the Whirinaki Conservation Park not long thereafter.
These days the park is managed, in partnership, by DOC and Ngāti Whare and boasts 155km of hiking and mountain biking trails to suit all tastes and abilities.
There’s a range of short, day walks or overnight tramps through a network of backcountry DOC huts.
Try the Whirinaki Waterfall walk or the Sanctuary Loop track, both are excellent short walks and can be done in a loop to save faffing about with shuttling vehicles.
The Waterfall Walk takes you along the inside edge of carved out canyon, the Te Whāiti-NuiA-Toi canyon, with steep-sided banks covered in a thick, mossy carpet of ferns so deep you could lie down and disappear completely.
Get as far as the waterfall and swing around via the opposite bank for a varied return walk.
This is your best opportunity to spot whio as it’s one of only eight security sites nationwide for the preservation of this delightfully weird, whistling blue duck.
Whio only choose the cleanest, healthiest rivers so seeing them adeptly navigating the bubbling rapids is a rare sight indeed.
To experience a deeper taste of this glorious time capsule of biodiversity and its stories, book a guided walk experience with Walking Legends.
As part of their 4-day Waikaremoana Discovery Tour you can visit both the Whirinaki Conservation Park and the cloud-forests of Te Urewera with a professional hiking guide and a small, fun group for a fully-inclusive hiking tour package holiday of a lifetime.