Forest To The Sea Traditional Cache

The area known as Pukenui Forest, or Western Hills, is a dominant feature and treasure of the people and city of Whangarei. The eastern fringes of the forest are bounded by the edge of the city itself - from Maunu in the South to Western Hills Drive and Kamo in the North.  There are some well maintained tracks on the northern side of the forest however the southern city side is not as often visited and the main ridge track is less developed.

The forest is a relatively large area of native (temperate) lowland broadleaf forest, a type of habitat now rare in New Zealand, which is known to contain a number of threatened species, including long-tailed bat, North Island brown kiwi and New Zealand wood pigeon.  The Pukenui Landcare group has a well developed pest trapping program in place and visitors to the forest should take heed of any signs warning of poisoning operations that occur from time to time.

This beautiful area of bush can be easily accessed from three entrances - the northern, and most visited area, via Three Mile Bush Road (Amalin Drive entrance); from the Barge Park Showgrounds; or from the Whau Valley Dam car park.  The closest access to this cache would be the Barge Park entrance which will entail a rather steep hike up to the main ridge track.

I have walked the main ridge track many times and each time have paused to admire the stunning view from the forest down the length of the Whangarei Harbour out to Hen Island.  The cache has been placed to share this view and hopefully should not be difficult to find. The adventure is in going to GZ as the track is not well maintained so some care is required to make sure the orange track markers are followed - this is classified as an undeveloped forest trail.