Kaitaia Walkway - short walk
Track category
Short walk
Time:
1.5 hr
Distance:
4 km
Description
Puriri trees
This is an easy bush walk through broadleaf and podocarp forest along an old formed roadway. In summer, the lush forest canopy provides cooling shade.
After about 30 minute you come to a junction:
- A 20-minute return walk up a steep narrow track takes you to a stunning kauri grove. Strewn on the forest floor underneath the kauri are pieces of kauri bark and you can take a moment to study their amazing shapes and patterns.
- A 15-minute return track takes you to a lookout point over the forest.
From here you can continue the Kaitaia Walkway - route to Diggers Valley.
Getting there
You can find the walkway entrance by travelling south from Kaitaia on SH 1 for about 3 km. Turn right onto Larmer Road and follow it to its end. The track is signposted.
The exit of the walkway is at Veza Road, off Diggers Valley Road.
About the area
The Far North area of Kaitaia/Mangonui/Karikari is an area renowned for its role in New Zealand history for both Maori and Pakeha. It also includes some important habitats, which are home to rare and threatened plant and animal life.
This diverse area features broad beaches of white sand, rocky headlands and intimate sheltered bays rimmed with pohutukawa forest. The conservation values of this region, its lakes and surrounding ocean are high.
History
Archaeological evidence indicates the Far North was first settled by Polynesian ancestors of the Maori about 900 years ago. The region around Mangonui was well populated before the arrival of Europeans with archaeological sites revealing the extent of this settlement. A number of pa sites remain visible, well preserved and accessible to the public. Maori pa were fortified sites that provided protection in times of warfare, usually built on hills and headlands with good natural defences. These natural features were extended by man-made ditches, banks and palisades.
The region was important early during European contact. Both Cook and de Surville visited within days of each other in 1769, and in the early 1800'2 Mangonui was an important whaling and trading port.
The Dalmatian community around Ahipara were involved in the extraction of kauri gum. The gum was used for lacquers, paint and linoleum, and was also reputedly the best varnish in the world for musical instruments.