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Flax plant

Ruud Kleinpaste - Nature Expert

The Wairarapa region has a wonderfully wild coast, and Castlepoint is the place to experience it. The rustic old farm buildings and battered fences look perfectly at home with the marram grass and surf-drenched coastline.

  Castlepoint, Wairarapa - click for more.
Castlepoint, Wairarapa, lighthouse
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You can climb the lighthouse and look for seals – occasionally it’s possible to spot a sea elephant or sea leopard. Castlepoint is also home to a very rare daisy, Senecio compactus, which is found only in a small, signposted reserve.

Another side of Wairarapa can be seen at beautiful gardens like Awaiti in Carterton. It’s a large, colourful country garden with a water race, ponds and falls. Peacocks, doves and fantail pigeons flit amongst roses, perennials, flowering trees, clematis and wisteria. Little Otahome in Masterton is another lovely experience – semi-formal and English in design.

Bush life

Between the Wairarapa region and Wellington sits Kaitoke Regional Park, which has four excellent walks. You’ll discover beech, rimu and kahikatea forest, swing bridges and refreshing swimming holes.

Raised beaches

Beach on the Wairarapa Coast - click for more.
Shingle shores and red rocks along the Wairarapa Coast.
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Spectacular earthquakes have been lifting the lower North Island out of the sea step by step over thousands of years. At Turakirae Head Scientific Reserve it’s easy to see a well-defined sequence of earthquake-raised beaches – sometimes called ‘stepped beaches’. Each plateau provides a valuable habitat for a variety of plants and wildlife. The five earthquake-raised beaches are internationally-renowned in scientific circles for the continuous record they provide of geological upheaval over the past 7,000 years. It takes about 45 minutes to walk to Turakirae Head from the Wainuiomata Coast Road. Fur seals are part of the scenery, especially during winter.

Wairarapa

Garden Events

  • Wairarapa Home and Garden Festival (Nov)

Parks & Reserves
Set aside for their special appeal, New Zealand's parks and reserves can be wild, cultures or somewhere in between.
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