Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hari Hari
About 22km south of Lake Ianthe, Hari Hari is where swashbuckling Australian aviator
Guy Menzies crash-landed his trusty biplane into a swamp after completing the first solo
trans-Tasman flight from Sydney, in 1931. Read all about it and view a replica of his
plane at a commemorative park at the southern end of town.
Poerua and Wanganui Rivers through bogs, estuaries and a swamp forest. The walk starts
20km from SH6, the last 8km unsealed; follow the signs from Wanganui Flats Rd. Tide
times are posted at the Pukeko Tearooms, which serves decent food and coffee.
Should you need a sleepover,
Flaxbush Motels
( 03-753 3116;
www.flaxbushmotels.co.nz
; SH6; d $65-120; )
has characterful cabins and units covering a
wide range of budgets. It also has a friendly disposition towards birds (ducks and pea-
cocks in particular), and a willingness to negotiate room rates for longer stays.
Whataroa
Near Whataroa, 35km south of Hari Hari, is the
Kotuku Sanctuary
, NZ's only nesting
site for the kotuku (white heron), which roosts here between November and February.
The only way to visit the nesting site is with
White Heron Sanctuary Tours
( 03-753
4120, 0800 523 456;
www.whiteherontours.co.nz
; SH6, Whataroa; adult/child $120/55; 4 tours
daily late Sep-Mar)
on an enjoyable 2½-hour tour involving a gentle jetboat ride and short
boardwalk to a viewing hide. Seeing the scores of birds perched in the bushes is a magic-
al experience. A scenic rainforest tour without the herons is available year-round for the
same price.
The tour people also run the
Sanctuary Tours Motel
( 03-753 4120, 0800 523 456;
www.whiteherontours.co.nz
; SH6; cabins $65-75, d $110-135)
, with basic cabins with shared
bathrooms ($10 extra for bedlinen), and enthusiastically painted motel units.
Glacier Country Scenic Flights
( 03-753 4096, 0800 423 463;
www.glacieradventures.co.nz
;
SH6, Whataroa; flights $195-435)
offers a range of scenic flights
and helihikes, lifting off from Whataroa Valley. These guys give you more mountain-
gawping for your buck than many of the operators flying from the glacier townships.
Okarito
Fifteen kilometres south of Whataroa is the turn-off to the Forks, branching west for
13km to the magical seaside hamlet of Okarito (population 30ish). It sits alongside
