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ok¯ arito¯ lagoon kayak trail 0 500m 1000m ok¯ arito¯ lagoon ok¯ arito¯ RIVER DELTA Scale: 1:45,500 (3240 ha) 7 ¯ ¯ 8 okarito river 9 ok¯ arito¯ RIVER DELTA TRAIL Kayak guide 3 markers 4 Kayak trail 2 Routes 1 5 TASMAN SEA MAIN CHANNEL TIDAL CREEK TRAIL 6 WHARF SHED ok¯ arito¯ PADDLING A WETLAND WILDERNESS The Ok¯ arito¯ Lagoon is a wild, wet haven for nature. Paddling its main channel and the rivers that feed into it can reveal many surprises: shy birds hide in rushes; rare, white waders fish in its waters; our tallest trees tower above the lagoon and our highest mountains reveal themselves – occasionally – creating a stunning snowy backdrop. This interpretive kayak trail follows the main lagoon channel before diverting kayakers up two optional river paddling times Times vary depending on which way the routes – the O¯k¯arito River Delta Trail and the closer Tidal Creek Trail. tide is going. You will see a series of numbered floating markers in Wharf Shed – Tidal Creek Trail the water signifying points of interest described in this turnoff 3 guide. The views change depending on the weather, but Incoming tide: 15 min whatever the mood there is a charming quality about Outgoing tide: 30 min this lagoon. Enjoy your close encounter with nature on the waters Wharf shed – O¯ k¯arito Delta Trail of O¯k¯arito Lagoon – New Zealand’s largest unmodified turnoff 7 coastal wetland (3,240 ha). Incoming tide: 20–40 min Outgoing tide: 1 hr WORD OF WARNING Don’t forget that O¯k¯arito Lagoon is tidal. Kayakers should stay upstream of the wharf building at all times. Beyond this point the flow and shifting mouth of the lagoon can be dangerous for people and boats. Contact Okarito Kayaks for further advice, tide information and kayaking tips. Safe paddling. AORAKI/MT. COOK MT. TASMAN/HORO KOA¯ U McFETRICK PEAK MT. ELIE DE BEAUMONT MINARETS LENDENFELD PEAK MT. SPENCER MT. LA PEROUSE FOX GLACIER/TE MOEKA O TUAWE FRANZ JOSEF GLACIER/KA¯ ROIMATA O HINE HUKATERE Paddling the main channel... 1 CAN YOU SEE THE MIGHTY ALPS? FROM O¯KARITO¯ WHARF SHED The Southern Alps/K¯a Tiritiri o te Moana (the As you glide off from ¯k¯arito’sO wharf shed, frothing waters of the ocean) are the backbone you may notice the old wooden wharf piles of the South Island. This dramatic 500-km-long – a reminder that O¯k¯arito was once the West mountain range was forced up millions of years Coast’s third largest port. Gold discovered on ago along the Alpine Fault that stretches from the beaches south of here lured thousands Fiordland in the south to Nelson Lakes in the of diggers and prospectors, followed by north east. The Alps act as a huge barrier to the storekeepers, publicans, surveyors and moisture-laden westerly winds roaring in from adventurous families. In the mid-1860s the Tasman Sea. Metres of rain are dumped on this port was alive with people, vessels and the West Coast annually, and masses of snow freight. feed the 140 glaciers that still exist in Westland A harbourmaster was kept busy, trying to Tai Poutini National Park. direct steamers with white flags and signal If you look to your right, you are (hopefully) balls over the often treacherous bar at the viewing New Zealand’s highest peak Aoraki/ lagoon mouth. Ships arriving here were a Mount Cook (3,724 m), and the second highest, lifeline for the isolated O¯k¯arito community Mount Tasman/Horo K¯oau (3,497 m), flanking who, at that time, relied on their own self it to the left. M¯aori believed that this mountain sufficiency and the packhorses pounding the resembled the shag (cormorant) with its wings coastal highways. outstretched to dry. Visit the wharf shed during your stay and Look out for the pied and little shags/k¯oau – learn more about the story of O¯ k¯arito. regular visitors to the lagoon. Looking north up the lagoon you may see Mount Adams – the dominant snowy peak in view. Australasian crested grebe/k¯amana is a Little shag/k¯oau threatened species in New Zealand, but you may be lucky to see one on O¯ k ¯arito Lagoon. Illustrations by Mark Neilson 2 WADERS ON THE WATER 3 GLACIERS TO WETLANDS As you paddle up the main channel you may notice how shallow the lagoon actually is (especially at mid to low tide). These estuarine whataroa okarito river waters are alive with crabs, shellfish, snails, moraine ridge worms and fish — attracting up to 40 species of shorebirds and migratory waders. As the tide recedes, flocks of waders appear along the tide line here. You may encounter: franz josef glacier The unmistakable white heron/k¯otuku, poised elegantly ready to spear a fish or baby eel/tuna. K¯otuku, found throughout Oceania and Asia, are now The map shows the extent of the last glacial ice advance 18,000 years ago. The black line marks the location of the rare birds in this country. Alpine Fault. They have selected a GNS Science forest just north of O¯k¯arito Lagoon as their only New During the last ice advance – 18,000 years ago White heron/k¯otuku Zealand breeding site. – large glaciers smothered this landscape, their The royal spoonbill/ icy tongues reaching out 10 km from the present k¯otuku – ngutupapa, is coastline. As the ice retreated, distinctive ridges white with a distinctive of moraine (glacial-carried rocks and debris) spoon-shaped black bill were left behind on the coastal lowlands. On for sweeping the waters for the map, you can clearly see the moraine ridge crustaceans and insects. that curves around behind O¯k¯arito Lagoon. The K¯otuku – ngutupapa This marks the sides of the ancient glacier as it Royal spoonbill/ has adapted well to a carved its way out to sea along what is now the k¯otuku-ngutupapa variety of wetland habitats Whataroa River bed. across New Zealand and Looking north, you can see evidence of this its population is now over extensive low-lying moraine ridge that has 1,000. One of its nesting entrapped the waters of the lagoon at its sites is alongside the farthest end. k¯otuku on the edge of the Waitangiroto River. The open waterways, swamps, lagoons and estuaries that formed between the Alps and The pied stilt/poaka – a the Tasman Sea once the glaciers melted are Pied stilt/poaka black and white wader with the most extensive and significant natural very long legs. freshwater wetlands in the country. An arctic migrant – the eastern bar-tailed godwit/ k¯uaka has long black legs and a slightly curved bill. Eastern bar-tailed Black swan. Introduced from godwit/k¯uaka Australia, the black swan is a common sight on O¯ k ¯arito Lagoon. Keep your distance as they can be aggressive when threatened. Illustrations by Mark Neilson RIMU FOREST KAHIKATEA FOREST MANUKA SHRUBLAND RUSHLANDS/SALTMARSH ZONE Illustration by Mark Neilson Paddling the Tidal Creek Trail... Leave the main channel and follow the yellow route with interpretive trail markers leading up Tidal Creek to the bridge. Alternatively, you may continue on the main channel up to the O¯k¯arito River Delta Trail and pick up the interpretive trail again there. 44 FROM RUSHES TO RIMU 45 TWO SHY SPECIES As you start paddling up Tidal Creek you will Amongst the swords of reeds and rushes note distinct changes in vegetation, from the on the edge of O¯k¯arito Lagoon roams the low-growing ‘rushlands’, regularly swamped Australasian bittern/matuku h¯urepo (Botaurus with sea water in the saltmarsh zone, to the poiciloptilus). This solitary, heron-like bird is shrubs and tall forests on drier land beyond well camouflaged. To avoid predators, it can the reach of the tides. From the water’s edge, mimic a tall reed by stretching out its neck. sea rush and jointed rush/w¯īw¯ī dominate, Bitterns usually feed at night, stalking fish, before giving way to a taller shrubland of frogs, eels and insects. Matuku h¯urepo are m¯anuka accompanied by toetoe, flax/harakeke ‘globally endangered’ due to the extensive loss and small-leaved coprosma species. Only in of the world's wetlands. Their presence often extreme high tides or storms does salt water indicates the health of a wetland. reach the shrub line. The fernbird/m¯at¯a (Bowdleria punctata) is The shrubland then grades into stands of New Zealand’s most consistent inhabitant of kahikatea (New Zealand’s tallest tree), a bogs and wetlands. A small speckled bird of swamp dweller that can establish itself in fresh the ‘grassbird’ family, its call is usually just a silt deposited after floods. short ‘uu-tick’ rather than a melodious song. Often heard and not seen, this secretive little Mature rimu forest features beyond, favouring bird thrives in sedges, wire rush, ferns and the drier glacial moraines and terraces that m¯anuka scrub and occupies both freshwater surround the lagoon. As you paddle further up and tidal wetlands. Its long tail resembles a Tidal Creek these terraced rimu forests start to fern–one of the theories given for its name. dominate, their survival remarkable given the intensive rainfall and leached infertile soils. Listen out for m¯at¯a in the saltmarsh zones aroundO¯k¯aritoLagoon. Read more about the rimu and kahikatea trees at point 9 described on the O¯k¯arito River Delta Trail. Australasian Bittern/Matuku h¯urepo Fernbird/M¯at¯a Illustration by Mark Neilson Illustration by Mark Neilson 6 BENEATH THE MURKY WATERS eggs prior to death.

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