Papaitonga Scenic Reserve is a 135 ha area of forest and wetland, and is the only remaining lake bordered by undisturbed native forest in the Horowhenua region. It contains two populations of endangered native land snails.
The lake is bordered on two sides by wetland podocarp forest. The wetland forest is dominated by kahikatea, pukatea, and swamp maire, with substantial amounts of kiekie in the understorey. The drier forest on the higher surrounding terraces is largely tawa, kohekohe, and māhoe, with some rimu and tītoki. The rare leafless mistletoe Korthalsella salicornioides is found in the mānuka forest on the fringes.
Papaitonga Scenic Reserve is scientifically important, as it contains the last remaining sequence of wetland forest grading into dry terrace forest in the Wellington and Horowhenua area.
Northeastern Papaitonga Scenic Reserve contains most of the world's population of the endangered land snail Powelliphanta traversi traversi, found in the damp lowland gullies – this is one of only two places in the world this snail occurs (the other is Waiopehu Reserve near Levin). There is also a population of the closely related subspecies P. t. florida, living at the southeastern side of the lake.
The lake has the traditional name Waiwiri (meaning 'trembling waters'). Papaitonga is the traditional name given to the larger of the two islands on the lake. Although the name has become synonymous with the lake itself, it is also used to describe the whole reserve. There is also a smaller island called Papawhārangi, made by Muaūpoko in the late 1700s, using shells, pūrei and waka loads of soil.
The reserve is administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC), who undertake possum and rat control, and have banned dogs, hunting, and mountain biking. Whilst most of the reserve is protected habitat, and there is no access to the lake itself, there is a wonderful walkway through the native bush which leads to 2 viewpoints over the lake.
The bushwalk is child-friendly and there is the opportunity for them to earn a Kiwi Guardians certificate and medal for completing an easy task along the way. Learn more about this here: https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/toyota-kiwi-guardians/all-sites/north-island/papaitonga-scenic-reserve/
The cache itself is easy enough to find. The skill is making sure there are no Muggles around as it would be easy for this one to get destroyed/stolen.
Please replace as found, otherwise the magnets won't do their job.
I hope you enjoy the walk and the views, and as always please feel free to message me with any feedback. Happy caching :)