13 June 2019

An open-fronted whare, known as Te Whare o Moturimu will now provide tired hikers with a sheltered place to sleep as they traverse the famous Te Araroa trail near Palmerston North.

The Te Araroa Trail, begins at Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua and ends at Bluff, with the halfway point (for the 18/19 season) just 4km south of the new shelter.

South of Palmerston North the trail cuts through the Council owned Gordon Kear Forest. The whare was built there, a day’s hike or 30km from Palmerston North, to ensure there was safe place for hikers to rest and to minimise risk to the commercial forest.

The whare provides sleeping space for about 8 people. It has a clean water stream nearby, a picnic table, rubbish bin and a concrete platform for gas cookers. No fires are permitted. A toilet is proposed before next hiking season to keep the environment clean.

It has been named after the surrounding area, Moturimu. The site of the whare was once a place where people from the Moturimu village camped while they cleared the land.

The Council’s Parks and Reserves Manager, Kathy Dever-Tod, hopes the hut will draw more people to our region.

“Hikers know we live in one of the most beautiful parts of New Zealand and this whare will only encourage more people to hike this stretch of Te Araroa Trail knowing they have a safe shelter to rest their tired legs at the end of the day.”

She hopes it will also draw more Palmerston North residents to the trail

“We are working hard to provide opportunities to get our residents outside and enjoying nature. This whare makes Te Araroa even more accessible for our residents as they can hike a section, to Shannon or Levin, over a weekend and have a shelter to bed down in overnight.”

For more information on Te Araroa Trail : https://www.teararoa.org.nz/manawatu/

ENDS

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