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At 7800 hectares, Lake Wairarapa is one of the largest lakes in the North Island and is surrounded by considerable areas of swamp. These wetlands support a great number of birds - 80 species have been recorded here - and it is a waterfowl habitat of international importance.
Lake Wairarapa drains into the smaller Lake Orakei, which is separated from the Pacific by a bar of shingle at the top of Palliser Bay. The bay itself, once densely settled by the Maori, has been the site of extensive archaeological work which has given us some idea as to how the first New Zealanders lived. Old pa sites have been examined and middens excavated. From the remains of fish found in middens, we know that species such as parrotfish and blue cod formed a large part of the diet of the early inhabitants over 600 years ago.
This area is also of interest to botanists. One of our rarer grasses, Rytidosperma petrosum, is found at Cape Palliser. Not described until 1979, this plant has so far only been found here and on D’Urville Island across Cook Strait.
From Featherston State Highway 2 takes you north through the intensively farmed lands of the southern Wairarapa to Masterton, which can be used as a base for exploring this region.
To the west of Masterton rise the rugged, bush-clad Tararua Ranges and these serve as a poignant reminder of the former glory of the Wairarapa. It was from here that Buller took the only extant examples of the North Island laughing owl and the North Island kakapo. This Tararua forest, and a few sad remnants elsewhere, are all that now remain of the Forty-Mile Bush which once extended from Mauriceville to Woodville and on to Dannevirke. In the 1850s the missionary-explorer William Colenso talked of 'the dense nature of these almost impenetrable forests'. Alas, this is no longer so. More than a century of relentless clearance for farming by British and Scandinavian settlers, together with the operations of some 28 sawmills felling the many rimu, totara and matai, have changed the landscape forever.
For those with the time, a drive out to Castlepoint on the coast is worthwhile. The road goes by Blairlogie and Tinui and is fairly winding so don’t rush it. Castlepoint is the only settlement of any size along the entire length of coast between Cape Palliser and Cape Kidnappers. This is an area of great natural beauty with golden beaches, wild surf and striking headlands. Cook himself named Castlepoint for its fancied resemblance to the crenellated castles of Europe, but erosion has worked its inevitable course and today it bears little resemblance to what Cook saw.
Castlepoint has a number of things to interest the naturalist. Firstly, it is home to a very rare plant. A daisy, Senecio compactus, is found only here in a small, signposted reserve. Unlike a number of our plant rarities, which are modest in appearance, this is an attractive plant with thick greygreen leaves and large yellow flowers which would grace any garden.
The coast also supports a rich variety of seabirds, and even a greater frigate bird has been collected at Castlepoint. Fur seals occur at various places, and the occasional sea elephant and sea leopard have turned up. If you find either of these animals treat them with a great deal of respect as they are fairly fractious. |
rom Wellington State Highway 2 continues north-east, climbing the Rimutaka Ranges. Here, the first and probably the only examples of the bush wren or matuhi were taken in about 1850 by Captain Stokes of the survey ship ‘Acheron’. They disappeared soon afterwards, apparently because of rat predation. The black petrel or taiko along with other petrels once nested in the Rimutakas, but they have also been driven out by predators. Before the Pakeha arrived these hills supported dense forests filled with birdlife. Now all they support is scrub. For the best wildlife viewing in this area today you need to pass over the range and turn off at Featherston through Pigeon Bush - now with no pigeons and little bush - and travel to Lake Wairarapa.