Tūī are unique (endemic) to New Zealand and belong to the honeyeater family, which means they feed mainly on nectar from flowers of native plants such as kōwhai, puriri, rewarewa, kahikatea, pohutukawa, rātā and flax. Occasionally they will eat insects too.
They are important pollinators of many native trees and will fly large distances, especially during winter for their favourite foods.
Tūī will live where there is a balance of ground cover, shrubs and trees. They are quite aggressive, and will chase other tūī and other species (such as bellbird, silvereye and kereru) away from good food sources.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/tui-song-42.mp3
Reference: Department of Conservation for Bird information
The series may be started from either Te Puke Quarry Road, or Manoeka Road. It is a 10 kilometre walk between these points on the Otawa Trig Track, and the Department of Conservation signs advise it is likely to take 4 ½ hours from Te Puke Quarry Road to Manoeka Road via Otawa Trig. Starting from Te Puke Quarry Road reduces the climbing required significantly! Alternatively, you could start at either car park, walk to Otawa Trig and return to your vehicle. Finding most of the caches 1-5 or 5-9 will give you the co-ordinates to find the bonus cache.
Gateway #1, #2 Kereru, #3 Ruru, #4 Karearea, #5 Tauhou,
OR
#5 Tauhou, #6 Toutouwai, #7 Kiwi, #8 Piwakawaka, #9 Tui
Coordinates have been averaged over multiple visits but may not be exact due to the landscape and surrounding trees. The caches have been placed out of sight but not requiring rummaging around in leaf litter. BYOP.
If you have family collecting and/or dropping you off, they may enjoy these nearby caches:
http://coord.info/GC41PK6
http://coord.info/GC40BND
Know before you go
*Ensure you have strong, comfortable shoes, a good raincoat, warm clothing, cellphone, first aid kit, food and drink, a hat and sunscreen. Topo map strongly advised.
*Leave your tramping intentions with a responsible person, in case you get lost.
*Don’t leave valuables in your vehicle.
*Stay on the trail marked with orange triangles – if you haven’t seen a marker in 20metres, backtrack to the last one you saw.
*Hunters may be active in this area, wear high-vis clothing.
*A good GPS is preferable to a phone due to tree and valley coverage.