The Totara Loop is an easy 15 minute walk at the Woodville end of the Manawatu Gorge Track. The track is easily accessible from the carpark across the Ballance Bridge or alternatively provides a triumphant end to the keen geocachers walking the entire Gorge Track. Towards the end you’ll find a totara detour where this forest giant guards the cache.
The GPS can be a bit erratic under the trees but you’ll certainly know this tree when you see it. The mighty totara is a stunning forest canopy tree that reaches approximately 30 meters over 100 years. This forest giant features in many Maori legends including the local legend of a giant totara tree that thrashed its way through the hills forming the Manawatu Gorge.
Due to this cache going missing and for the protection of the tree from 17th March 2020 it has been moved a few metres to a safer location the new coordinates are ....
S 40° 20.381' E 175° 48.955'