First Glimpse of the Waitui Reserve

                                    

Traffic is just getting busy. It's half-past seven in the morning. It's a cold winter morning with a visible layer of frost over the lawn surfaces, quite like a layer of white cream frosting on a green tea cake! Who makes green tea cakes? Well am not sure about cakes, but I have definitely come across green tea ice cream and that was it, let it be a one-time experience. ETA is looking good, let's just say that the destination is somewhere in Te Puna.

After we got the business done at Te Puna, we came across a place that was quite magical. As I was looking out at random in google maps for any areas of interest, like how some iconic flagship landmarks show up as you zoom in or zoom out in the maps app, a striking layout of the water body got our attention, spread out all around our location of interest. There is a reserve!!

The place is Waitui Reserve, a beautiful waterfront area with an outstanding specimen Eucalyptus tree which is an art of its own, and boat ramp access. The estuary was teeming with native birds, we spotted plenty of Tui, local kingfishers and Pied Stilt's to name a few. It's quite easy to get this Waitui Reserve mixed up with the Waituna Wetland Scientific Reserve, the natural habitat of Awarua Waituna of Southland with lagoons, ponds, lakes, and peatland. 

The area has a line of houses and hence a small community living with the benefits of having one of the most impressive views you could get in the eastern Bay of Plenty region. A perfect waterfront paradise, to sitback, relax and bask in the sun. Against the backdrop of the iconic tree specimen, there is the Mount Maunganui aka Mauao (meaning ''caught by the morning light''). The story of the Mauao, with the genesis chapter where three mountains living together in the Hautere forest is a legendary story of its own and never fails to astonish me. 

The reserve has allowance from the council and the community to occupy campers with ample space available. The site comes equipped with the ncessary facilities for the freedom campers in campervans and motorvans. There are maximum stay restrictions of 3 nights for such campers over a period of 4 consecutive weeks. This comes free of cost and hence be kind with the community and the nature itself. I like it best when the reserve is on a high tide with water body teeming with life and other species of life chasing after it!  

It was quite handy to have my backpack with all the basic camera gears. The views and the bird songs were so magical and didn't want to miss capturing this. Took out the tripods and shot a couple of videos, relaxing ourselves while the camera does the job. There were some children playing on the streets, however there wan't much noise to disrupt the nature sounds. The one with the beach waves came out to be nice as the wind wasn't too bad. The bird songs too came out well other than the visulas being a bit cloudy making it hard to notice a Tui or other natives making those lovely songs. 

There were couple of campervans stalled at the place and as it was morning quite a few local people from the community was found having their daily walks and bike rides. The scene was so calm and refreshing with friendly community and serene nature vibes. More visits are definetly planned to this place as there are some walks that still need to be explored. From the maps, there seems to have quite a few tracks that spreads out along the waterbody and the place is close to some nearby parks as well. 

 

“An Unknown Magical White Cliff Secret”

This magical treasure of moss covered cannonball concretions forest in Mangaweka, a small township of Manawatu-Wanganui region located in North Island of New Zealand, is a natural wonder. A narrow gravel winding road with beautiful countryside views takes you to the gates of the White cliffs farm. This self-guided walk has several orange arrows posted along the route and sheep poo for GPS. The downhill walk past the magnificent Rangitikei River is a beauty of its own. Hills with pastures and forests line the side of the valley across the winding river. 

You might be walking alongside the company of some fellow New Zealand sheep as the locale is a private farm property. There is an honesty box for a decent five dollar donation. It takes almost 45 minutes for a one side walk across these lovely farmlands with some of the most spectacular views of the Rangitikei River before arriving at the boulders. 

A short stroll from the cliff tops down to the river and you feel like you are stepping back in time. Blue waters of the river stroll past thousands of grey stones as we walk towards the forest. The White cliffs forest containing the boulders is situated on a raised land mass with a short uphill approach track.

These magnificent boulders are set amongst native trees with almost a Hobbiton ambience. Don’t be surprised if Bilbo Baggins or even Gollum might haunt you for the Precious from amidst the deep green dungeons of these boulders. The native bush is rich with a variety of birds,  natural flora and fauna, covered in green moss, giving it an enchanted feel. It’s enough to make you imagine you were walking through a giant’s marble collection.

You would be surprised to discover a flushing toilet in the middle of the Boulders bushes. The walk back up the hill can be a little steep and might be worth taking a water bottle. The area is perfect for a picnic with options near the boulders on the outskirts of the forest or somewhere with a view of the river and may be a swim in the clear river on a hot summer's day.

White Cliffs Boulders: (Visitors Information Board)

''Take nothing but photos, Leave nothing but footprints''

The Whitecliffs Boulders are called concretions and have formed within the rocks where they are found. In this case, the rock type is the Mangaweka mudstone, which was deposited off the coast of an older version of N.Z. from 2.5 to 3 million years ago. The mudstone came from sediments dropped by rivers eroding land into the sea. The rivers carried more than sediments, which was key to the creation of the boulders. 

Shells and trees were also carried out to sea and were trapped in the sediment. The mud was full of water and as new sediments were deposited on top of the mud, the water was squeezed out. The water contained dissolved chemicals that dropped out of solution and formed cement around what was left of the buried shells and plant material. The organic material seems to create a node for this process to occur.

Layer after layer, calcium carbonate wrapped around the shells and trees to form cement concretions. Concretions can come in several shapes, but the round Whitecliffs Boulders are called cannonball concretions (it would take one huge cannon to fire the biggest boulders).

These concretions are called cannon ball concretions and are particularly large. There are larger ones in the USA that are 10 meters in diameter. The size is related to how much dissolved chemicals were in the water and the volume of water that flowed past the nodes. In this case, there must have been a lot. Specific conditions needed to be present for the boulders to be created and they definitely feel special up close. 

Cannonball concretions are large spherical concretions, which resemble cannonballs. They often outwardly resemble fossils or rocks that look as if they do not belong to the stratum in which they were found. Occasionally, concretions contain a fossil; either as its nucleus or as a component that was incorporated during its growth but concretions are not fossils themselves. 

Small hematite concretions, dubbed "blueberries" due to their resemblance to blueberries in a muffin, have been observed by the Opportunity rover in the Eagle crater on Mars. Concretions have long been regarded as geological curiosities. Because of the variety of unusual shapes, sizes and compositions, concretions have been interpreted to be dinosaur eggs, animal and plant fossils, extraterrestrial debris or human artifacts.

Getting there: 

Mangaweka, Manawatu-Wanganui, North Island - New Zealand

Enjoy the walk down to the Boulders over farm land with amazing views. Approximately 2 km walk down into the Boulders from the car park. Access is from the southern end of Whitecliffs Farm, 12km off SH 1 (Otara Rd which is 7 km south of Mangaweka) to the carpark. Open all year, no bookings necessary. This is a self-guided walk. 4WD transport is provided by prior arrangement for an extra cost. A reasonable degree of fitness is required for all walks/hikes/trail rides.

Click www.whitecliffsboulders.co.nz  for visiting the Official Page