GUIDED TRIP TO EXPLORE RANGIWAHIA SCENIC RESERVE REPORT

SATURDAY 1ST MARCH, 2025

While being very thankful for the rain this week, it held off long enough for our F&B Manawatū trip to Rangiwahia reserve to be both dry underfoot and not too sunny.
15 of us (including our wonderful hosts Mary and Steve Bielski) set off into the steep and pristine bush.
We saw so many wonderful trees, huge forest giants rimu and miru, tiny forest orchids, rare finds and great looking fungi.
The birds were shy but we did hear pīwakawaka (fantail)and kererū in the trees, and saw and heard grey warblers. The ever present magpies kept us company throughout.
A small group of us took the shorter one hour track - still so full of massive trees with incredible presence -
We took a morning tea break in a wonderful forest clearing presided over by a monstrous rimu, and then had lunch at the carpark before heading over to the Kaikawaka reserve for a shorter, if steep, walk through a different mix of bush, full of Kahikatea, sphagnum moss and up the hill, a forest of tree fuschias. About two hundred metres from the other bush, nature is amazing.
Lucky us.
So much respect for Mary and Steve who maintain the tracks and trap the bush and are so enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Special thanks to Mary for the plant name labels scattered throughout the reserve which makes the trip so much more informative.
A truly great day enjoyed by everyone.
--
Rosemary Cullen
F&B Manawatū Trip Coordinator