Glenfern Sanctuary Guided Walk
Glenfern Sanctuary guided walk begins with a ride in the Unimog, a 4WD all terrain army vehicle, up to Sunset Rock and a view of the Kotuku Scenic Reserve, Motu Kaikoura and Port Fitzroy Harbour. An old bridle trail, now a well formed track, continues along the ridge top.
The extent of eleven years of propagating and planting 40 species of native trees amongst the regenerating kanuka and manuka is evident now with over 10,000 now established. This is also the perimeter transit of a 100m x 50m grid of rat bait stations established in 2001 to control rodents. These stations are now part of a 50m x 50m grid of tracking tunnels right across the Kotuku Peninsula for rodent monitoring since the Xcluder Pest Proof Fence was built in 2008 and an aerial bait drop in 2009 eradicated all the pests within. Since then the peninsula has had multiple incursions of rodents around the shoreline which are being located and dealt with via the tracking tunnel network.
The ridge track turns off onto 'Kauri Tree Walk', passing through a plateau area of second stage regeneration where the native plants have been identified with descriptive plaques. A short stretch of boardwalk leads into mature coastal lowland forest where an old fallen puriri has re-sprouted into five trees and become host to other trees, ferns and epiphytes.
A few steps further on and the suspension bridge into the crown of a 600-year-old kauri tree stands before you. A short ladder climbs from the bridge to a platform 10m above the forest floor with a view down the valley to Port Fitzroy.
On the way back down the valley there is a black petrel nest where 5 chicks have fledged since the nest was discovered in 2000. The black petrel, a seabird endemic to NZ, formerly found across the North Island and north-western South Island ranges, is now restricted to Great Barrier and Little Barrier Islands, the only known breeding places in the world. This Category A endangered species, once safely fledged, will head for South America to live off the sea for the next four to five years before returning to the very same area where it was hatched and look for a mate.
Continuing down the valley over extensive boardwalks and steps there are age-old nikau, kohekohe and taraire trees and one remarkable old puriri with a face in the base of the trunk. The steps finish at the floor of the valley where they meet the stream and the upper end of a quad bike track. A gentle walk criss-crossing the stream over nine bridges returns to FitzRoy House.