Tarawhai Track takes 50 min to complete the loop but the cache is just 4 min walk in. The track starts 50 m down the side road leading to the Education Centre. The whole of the circular track passes some fine examples of rimu, pukatea and tawa, with a wide variety of other native plants present. This makes for an interesting and informative interpretation walk. A 5 m by 5 m fenced-off area has been created beside the southern end of this track to illustrate the effects of introduced browsers (notably, wallabies) on the native vegetation.
Several other tracks are in the area, including one which goes right down to the beautiful Lake Okataina.
There are toilet and picnicing facilities next to the carpark at the Education Centre. ( The site is 3km from Lake Okataina which is at the end of the road where there are also toilets, picnicing areas, a boat ramp, swimming areas, historic sites and interpretation panels at the carpark next to the Okataina Lodge.)
We used to attend and hold camps at the Education Centre which is run by a trust and used by many groups. It iis on a grassy field in the middle of the bush and wallabies sometimes browse there at night. The birdsong when waking up at the centre is glorious, as it was when we placed this cache at dusk nearby.