Find out about Pae Totara Pa, a WW II radar station, Radar Bush, Bartlett's rātā, and wildfires.

Radar Bush

Radar Bush is the last remnant of kauri/podocarp forest left north of Kaitaia. 150 ha have been fenced against pigs to protect the extremely diverse plant populations including rimu, kahikatea, matai, miro, totara, kauri, Bartlett’s rata, kaiwaka, and tanekaha.

Tangly Vine, also known as taihoa (‘wait a while’) is a semi-parasitic plant similar to mistletoe in the way it grows on a host. Host trees give it nutrients and support as well as water, but it has its own chlorophyll so it can feed from the sun through photosynthesis. Taihoa is endemic in the Far North.

World War II radar installation

During WWII, a radar station was built on top of the pa. 

Pae Totara Pa

This impressive pa, clearly visible from the road, commanded an uninterrupted view up and down the coast. The pa was built in the traditional manner, but had been modified to suit trench warfare.

The pa is thought to have had a large population of over 2000 inhabitants, who cultivated the land around the pa and built kumara pits. Wetlands nearby also offered good food sources.

Bartlett's rātā

Rata Moehau (Metrosideros bartlettii), or the Cape Reinga white rātā, discovered in 1976 is notable for its extreme rarity and its white flowers, uncommon in that genus of red-flowered trees and plants.

It is now only found in three patches of dense native forest near Spirits Bay that escaped destruction by fire, namely Radar Bush, Kohuronaki Bush, and Unuwhao Bush. Only 34 wild adult trees are known to exist in the wild. DOC has established a programme to secure the tree’s future through seed gathering, propagation and planting to increase the number of trees. The tree may always have been restricted to the North Cape area.

Bartlett’s rātā is also known as the white Christmas Tree. Its lime-green foliage stands out from the rest of the surrounding bush. It grows to a height of up to thirty metres, usually beginning life as a hemiepiphyte. Occasionally, the tree is found growing on the ground on rock outcrops and rocky cliffs. The tree bears white flowers made up of a mass of stamens in November or December.

The effects of fire on bush regeneration

This is a landscape dominated by fire. Fires were deliberately set in the past for agriculture.

The fires would run up the ridges, leaving only the damp gullies with any growth. Repeated burning of the area has depleted the fragile soils leaving little if any soil nutrients for regeneration to occur. Low-growing hardy plants can be seen on many dry ridges.

The area continues to be under threat from accidental or deliberately lit fires. In 2005, a car crash sparked a blaze that wiped out 230 ha of dry bush and scrub just south of Cape Reinga – home to some of the world’s rarest plants, giant snails and a species of gecko. The fire led to the evacuation of 36 campers from campgrounds and tourists from Cape Reinga. It took 2 days and about 70 people, 5 helicopters with monsoon buckets, 2 bulldozers and a digger to get the fire under control. The cost of this fire alone amounted to over $10,000.