TRIP REPORT : Wi Parata Reserve and Nga Manu Nature Reserve, Waikanae

 Saturday :   3 June 2006

Jubilee Park

Collospermum hastatum Photo: Jeremy Rolfe

This year is the centenary of Wi Parata’s death and, although coincidental, it seemed appropriate to be visiting his small preserve of coastal, broadleaf forest.   Wi Parata was a community leader in the area, Waikanae being formerly known as Parata Township.   As well as gifting the reserve, he was a sheep farmer on Kapiti, an owner of large portions of the Ngarara Block (30,000 acres in the Waikanae area), facilitated the passing of the railway through the area (on condition that all trains stopped at Waikanae), and was a Member of Parliament (and the first Maori cabinet minister).   Wi Parata was born on Kapiti in 1835, son of Metapere Waipunahau (Ngati Awa, Ngati Toa) and George Stubbs, the whaler and brother of Hemi Matenga.   His son Wi Naera was taken prisoner at Parihaka and one of his daughters married Te Whiti.   His descendants are influential members of the local community today.

A group of 22 including a good turnout from the Kapiti area botanised Wi Parata Reserve.   The kohekohe was in heavy flower down to near ground, evidence that the jointly (50-50) funded, GW / KCDC possum control.programme was succeeding.   Tradescantia and Selaginella are present along with other weeds but are getting a hammering from a spraying contractor.   The larger trees had a good load of Astelia and Collospermum hanging gardens, one including a sizeable Pittosporum cornifolium / taawhiri karo.   Two P. cornifolium were also terrestrial.   Three Streblus banksii were seen, a sapling, a small tree and a skinny, 10 m tall tree.   All had the leaf shape of S. banksii, the larger tree having much smaller leaves, reminiscent of S. heterophyllus leaves but lacking any fiddle-shaped leaves.   All suffered from the usual galls.   Ground cover in the reserve was sparse and is likely to be susceptible to drying out seasonally at the edges.   Wi Parata is an enjoyable little reserve and one obviously valued by local residents.

At Nga Manu in the afternoon, four volunteer guides joined our group, keen to compare notes about the inhabitants of the swamp forest remnant.   After tearing ourselves away from a healed but beguiling young, pet cormorant, we found a particular highlight in a Syzygium maire / maire tawake in heavy flower, its white flowers betraying the Myrtaceae familial line.   Rhys Mills, Manager, showed us a couple of excellent Ileostylus micranthus, one planted on taupata only four years ago and already bigger than 50 cm.

Participants : Bev Abbott, Karin Andersen, Joy Anderton, Barry Dent, (leader / scribe), Judy Driscoll, Sue Freitag, Errol Hardy, Margaret Herbert, Richard Herbert, Chris Hopkins, Chris Horne, Pam Manning, John McLachlan, Pat Menzies, Anne Meuli, Barbara Mitcalfe, Chris Moore, Mick Parsons, Graham Petterson, Judy Petterson, Jeanette Putnam, Penry Putnam, Sunita Singh, Enid Slim, Grace Suckling, Julia White.