Lake Opouahi, Thomas and Bellbird Bush tracks, and Holt Forest, Wednesday 6 August 2025
Banner Photo: Sizing up the huge redwood trees in Holt Forest, Tangoio
Lake Opouahi and the Thomas Bush and Bellbird Bush tracks map
This was meant to be a tramp to Galbraith Hut/Taraponui, but there was no access across Waitara Station due to stock work. The tides weren’t right for the coastal walk either. Many farm tracks were closed for lambing and it was too cloudy for the peaks. So organiser David Hills opted for a combination of Holt Forest, Lake Opouahi/Thomas Bush and Bellbird Bush tracks. These are reached from Pohokura Road, between Tutira and Boundary Stream.
The view from Thomas Bush Track
Our group left Park Island at the usual 7.30, travelling in David’s van and Kate’s car to Tutira and the kiwi sanctuary at Lake Opouahi Scenic Reserve. We walked around the lake and continued up to the top of Thomas Bush. Tony decided to return to the van. The track wasn’t very well marked.
David and I walked back to collect vehicles and pick up the others from the top of Pohokura Road. They had walked through farmland with very inquisitive cattle and passed through the Bellbird scenic reserve, doing a 15-minute loop track.
We had to back-track, returning on the lake track, as it was too difficult to walk through long, uneven grass. We picked up the others at the top of Pohokura Road a little later than planned and stopped at the Tutira store for a warming coffee.
The entranceway to Holt Forest
We also walked Holt Forest, just close by at Tangoio. Harold and Dorothy Holt purchased 15 hectares of manuka and bracken in 1993 and created a forest of native and introduced trees. It is now a wildlife sanctuary, gifted to all New Zealanders.
Trampers: Selina Chilton, Barbara Edmead, Donna Weston, Alison Greer, David Hills, Barbara Cleary, Tony Pluymers, Robyn Wilson and reporter Kate Fuller
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