Our Environment

Kahurangi translated from the Maori language means, precious treasure. We are aware that the natural world is our most precious treasure. At Western ranges we want to share with you this beautiful wild environment without spoiling it in any way.

Kahurangi National Park was created in 1996, it is one of two new national parks and the second largest in New Zealand. In places it is an untracked wilderness, elsewhere a wonderful network of tracks lets you explore wild rivers, high plateaux & alpine herbfields and coastal forests. There are 570 kilometres of walking and tramping tracks in the park. The more popular longer walks include the Heaphy Track ( one of New Zealands Great Walks ) and the Wangapeka Track which is close to our part of the park.There are also many backcountry huts in the park, wonderful places to stay when out tramping in the wilds.

Parts of Kahurangi were occupied by Maori from the 14th century and the coast was much traveled by those seeking pounamu (greenstone ). In 1846 Charles Heaphy, a draughtsman with the New Zealand Company, and Thomas Brunner were the first Europeans to traverse across the park to the coast. Later well worn packtracks were built by those wanting easy access to the country's first gold fields. The Baton Valley were we trek being one of those early goldfields.

Kahurangi is a geologically complex area. Much of its rock is sedimentary, laid down in an ancient sea, then faulted, uplifted and scoured, in places (like our area ) by glaciers. Parts of the region are limestone or marble, these areas are charcacterised by an abundance of caves, bluffs, natural arches, sinkholes and water-worn outcrops. New Zealands oldest fossil ( 540 million years old ) was found in the park.

The vegetation cover changes markedly from one side of the park to the other and from the coast to the tops of the montains. In the east, beech forest is dominant while to the west you will see podocarp forest with a rich understory of ferns, vines and scrubs. On the coast stands of nikau palms give the forest an almost tropical look. Eighty percent of New Zealand's alpine species can be found in the high reaches of the park.

Due to the varied landscape numerous different habitats have been created which support many different creatures. Several threatened species survive here from the diminutive rock wren to one of New Zealand's largest birds - the great spotted kiwi. The park is home to our largest cave spider and the smallest of our giant weta - a flightless insect a bit like a grasshopper, twenty species of carnivorous land snail ( Powelliphanta ) live in the park. They tend to come out from hiding on damp nights to feed on native worms that can grow up to a metre long. Some of the deepest caves in the world are found in Kahurangi but they are not for the inexperienced. Nettlebed caves are a six hour tramp from our trekking centre.

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