An evening at Te Araroa, #EastCape.

Mountains steep (1),
Meadows deep (2).
Seafaring souls (3),
Heavenly goals (4).

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Wakatiri | Lottin Point is the most northerly extent of #Gisborne District (1). Looking across Kawakawa Bay from Haupara Pt towards Te Araroa (2). In Te Araroa’s school grounds is NZ’s oldest (600+ yrs) & largest (21.2m high/ 40m wide) pōhutukawa, named Te Waha-o-Rerekohu (3). The name may relate to a Māori store house formerly on site; one has been reconstructed (4).

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Raukokore’s wooden Anglican church is a local landmark, built 1894, with free-range horses minding the grass (1). It’s still in use & in immaculate condition (2). On the back wall are pencil drawings by a boy named Taika Waititi, who spent some of his childhood here (3). He would go on to become a well-known Kiwi filmmaker; “Boy” was set in nearby Waihau Bay (4).

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Eastern BOP coastal scenery from SH35. Fishing from the long beach between Pehitairi & Hawai (1). Whituare Bay (2). Small settlement of Houpoto (3). Mouth of the Mōtū River (4).

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Tauranga Bridge (1) is south from Ōpōtiki on SH2, in Waioeka Gorge Scenic Reserve. Built in 1922 to replace an earlier one destroyed by flood in 1918, it spans the Waioeka River (2) & served settler farms in Tauranga Valley. A 1.5h loop track from here involves 2 stream crossings, incld. at mouth of Tauranga Stream (3). A symmetrical railing knot in No. 8 wire (4).

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Hukutaia Domain nr. Ōpōtiki contains many species of trees, birds & #fungi. A walk here is especially “fruitful” for spotting Favolaschia claudopus, the orange pore fungus. Viewed from the top you can appreciate why it’s sometimes likened to a ping-pong bat (1) with prominent pores on the underside (2). Also saw Cerrena zonata (3) & Auricularia cornea/ ear #fungus (4).

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Hukutaia Domain nr. Ōpōtiki is a 5ha reserve amidst farmland (1). Within is Taketakerau | The Burial Tree, a large 2,000+ yr old endemic Vitex lucens/ pūriri into which the Upokorehe iwi set the bones of their distinguished dead, rendering it tapu | sacred (2). Although bones are gone the tree has guardian carvings (3). The pink pūriri flowers were past their best (4).

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An advantage of being “on site” in a camper is witnessing changing light thru the day. Whakaari | White Is, seen from Ōpōtiki’s Hukuwai Beach Recreation Reserve, smoked shades of white, grey & blue (1). Light can also change our mood—from irritation over fly-tipping (for which us freedom campers will be blamed) to joy at the reds & golds of sunset on Hukuwai Beach (2–4).

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The 11km-long Ōhope Beach on the ocean side of Ōhope Spit identifies as NZ’s “most-loved beach” (1). Large shallow estuary of Ōhiwa Harbour on the landward side (2). A wildlife refuge at the Spit’s tip allows endangered #birds to nest safely, overlooked by Onekawa Pā across harbour entrance (3). A Sterna striata/ white-fronted tern returns with shoal fish in beak (4).

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“Kiwi Boy” #art on Whakatāne riverfront (1) shares whakapapa with a bench-sitting bird in Auckland Botanical Gardens; several less anthropomorphic #kiwi sculptures also decorate bank. According to AI species classifier app, this painted gull-like local is probably Homo sapiens (2). Stern of ceremonial waka housed nr. river mouth (3), which is hazardous to navigate (4).

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B last entered the Whirinaki Forest in the early 1980s, on a high school field trip, counting seedlings and making observations with pencil and paper as a junior member of the school’s ecology club. With the aid of digital technology, we can share the sights and sounds of this ancient forest with you.

More? See https://curiositydrive.org/2024/01/15/into-the-forest/

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Transiting through Auckland and Southern Coromandel, we made our way into the western Bay of Plenty.

More? See https://curiositydrive.org/2024/01/15/beaches-a-plenty/

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(2/2) Whirinaki Waterfall Loop Track, Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park. Possibly decaying Entoloma canoconicum (1)? Endemic Uropetala carovei/ giant dragonfly/ kapokapowai can reach 13cm wingspan (2). Heimiomyces velutipes is native #fungus (3). A native emerald-colour Stethaspis longicornis/ mumu chafer, stuck by a wing in Carex uncinata/ “bastard grass” (4).

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(1/2) Whirinaki Waterfall Loop Track, Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park. Follows Whirinaki River (1) to Whirinaki Waterfall, loops back on opposite bank. Prumnopitys taxifolia/ black pine/ mataī bark has distinctive “hammered” appearance (2). Endemic Cyathea dealbata/ silver fern/ ponga is NZ icon, known for its silvery-white underside (3). Whirinaki Falls (4).

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(2/2) Arohaki Lagoon Track, Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park. Endemic Poliocephalus rufopectus/ NZ grebe/ weweia (1). NZ’s largest damselfly, endemic Austrolestes colensonis/ blue damselfly/ kēkēwai (2) & more common native Xanthocnemis zealandica/ red damselfly/ kihitara (3). Surrounding viewing platform, small native herb Lobelia angulata/ pānakenake (4).

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(1/2) Arohaki Lagoon Track, Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park. At end of River Rd, is 1.5km beyond main . Tree ferns beneath tawa/ podocarps (1). Not your usual shelf #fungus, this is Cyclocybe parasitica or tawaka in Māori (2). Heard the kākā call for some time before spotted in canopy (3). Tall kahikatea surround rain-fed lagoon (4) w/ cacophony of frogs.

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Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park. With adjacent Te Urewera = largest tract of native (podocarp w/ beech at higher altitudes) in North Island; a refuge for rare/ endangered species. No long-tailed bats in warm dusk sky (1). On Night Life Walk out & back via 1.4km of Sanctuary Loop Walk from Minginui ️ (3) we recorded kiwi & morepork; saw glow worms (4).

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After chores in #Whakatāne we turned inland. Kiwifruit vines are a common sight in BOP region (1). Visible from the coast, the volcanic cone of Puauaki | Mt Edgecumbe at 821m grew larger (2); it last erupted ~2,300 yrs ago. Lake Aniwaniwa came into being when the Rangitaiki River was dammed (3). A narrow dirt road leads to DOC’s Sanctuary Campsite at Minginui (4).

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Seen from DOC camp at Matatā, Te Awa a te Atua Bch looking southeast on a clear afternoon (1) & northwest at sunset (2). This exceedingly friendly camp offers the very latest in fabric rejuvenation technology (3). On the horizon Moutohora | Whale Is is an offshore wildlife sanctuary (4); further offshore, out of frame, is Whakaari | White Is—a very active volcano.

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Pāpāmoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park protects an extensive & centuries-old Māori pā complex, with 1,630 archaeological features. Karangaumu Pā one of the largest, adopting a defensive design with commanding coastal views (1&2). The site has views to Tauranga/ Mt Maunganui (3). After, delicious ice cream from Black Stump Berries nr. Te Puke—NZ’s capital (4).

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