Bar tailed godwit, D Veitch
Walking Tracks: Four flat, easy walking tracks that vary in length from 20 – 40 minutes return.
Facilities: Picnic table, electric barbeque, plant nursery and visitor information centre.
Bird life: Bar-tailed godwits, royal spoonbills, paradise shelduck, white-faced heron, pied stilt, New Zealand shoveler, pūkeko, black shag.
Getting there: The Reserve is accessed from 5 Paekakariki Hill Road, Pauatahanui Village. If coming from Wellington: take SH1 north, turn off on to SH58 at Paremata Roundabout, then take first exit at the Pāuatahanui roundabout into Paekakariki Hill Rd. If coming from the Hutt Valley: turn off SH2 at Haywards Hill on to SH58, then take second exit off Pāuatahanui roundabout into Paekakariki Hill Rd.
History: Thought to refer to the shapes of the inlet, Pāuatahanui means ‘big side of the paua shell’ and contains one of the most important salt marshes in the North Island.
The reserve has a range of vegetation from tidal mudflats to regenerating scrubland, and is inhabited by many local and migratory birds and a variety of mud-dwelling species, such as the walnut-sized native mud snail and mud crab.
Forest & Bird has restored the area (which was formerly farmland and a trail-bike track) to much of its natural, wetland, state. Restoration has included creating a series of shallow ponds, tracks, boardwalks and hides for observing birdlife, the planting of native species, and establishing a plant nursery and visitor information centre. Visitors are welcome to walk through the many tracks that weave throughout this Wildlife Reserve.
