Whirinaki 🌳🌳🌳

Today’s journey led deep into Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park, a forest that once stretched endlessly across the land. When European settlers arrived, large-scale logging quickly destroyed much of it, targeting the massive podocarp trees that had stood for centuries. What remains today is a regenerated forest, but many of its giants still stand—some over 1,000 to 1,800 years old.

The four-hour trail wound around the edge of a canyon, beneath towering rimu, tōtara, kahikatea, and mataī trees. Their trunks, covered in moss and ferns, reached high into the canopy, creating a dense, green world above. The air was damp and rich with the scent of earth and wood.

The forest was alive with bird calls. One particularly bold companion for the walk was a North Island robin (toutouwai)—a small, curious bird with soft grey feathers and long legs. It hopped close, watching intently, and even followed along the trail for a while, darting down to grab insects from the ground. Higher in the trees, kererū, the New Zealand pigeon, flapped heavily between branches. Much larger than city pigeons, these birds have an iridescent green and purple sheen on their feathers and make a deep "whooshing" sound with their slow wingbeats.

As night fell, the journey continued to Sanctuary Campsite, a quiet spot far from any light pollution. After dark, a guided night walk offered a chance to hear the kiwi, a nocturnal bird that is rarely seen. The forest, so loud during the day, became almost completely silent. Then, breaking the stillness, came the sound of a female kiwi calling—a high, rising whistle, repeated in short bursts. It was brief, but unmistakable.Læs mere