Sojourn to Kapiti Island
By AC Cindy Tregoweth
The Ohakea Admin Squadron (and some pers from Admin Flight Wellington), recently took a day trip to Kapiti Island.
Kapiti Island
We did this to help clean up pathways and drains that had become blocked from various storms, and to have an opportunity to experience this world class nature reserve. It was also a great way to celebrate F/S Murray Nockel’s birthday! Kapiti Island is one of New Zealand’s most valuable nature reserves. It is a sanctuary for many rare birds and plants, many of which are extinct on the mainland. It has also had a somewhat tumultuous history, being the subject of many Maori wars. Kapiti Island has been home to diverse people such as the famous Maori chief Te Rauparaha, whalers and farmers. Possums were fully eradicated from the island in 1986. By this time 22,500 possums had been taken off the island. Rats were not eradicated until 1996. Kapiti Island has made a remarkable recovery from an island cleared for farming to a nature reserve in just a few decades.
After a 15 minute boat ride, our first stop on Kapiti Island was the visitors’ shelter. Our guide, Jackie, gave us a talk about all things related to the island. She talked about the history, and the birds and plant life on the island. The rules were also laid down – no smoking (to the horror of some), no fires, no feeding the birds and no littering. Jackie was very passionate about Kapiti Island, and impressed upon us how much work and effort it has taken to get Kapiti Island the way it is today. We were also given two options on how to get to the highest peak of Kapiti Island (Tuteremoana, 521m) – either the Wilkinson Track (easy), or the Trig Track (steep, hard). We then broke into several different groups, mostly decided on age! I was in the ‘young’ group (obviously!), and we quickly decided to do the Trig Track.
The journey up the Trig Track started out well. Shortly after we started our trek, we came across a memorial to a fallen airman. FGOFF Robert Morris Jones, who was killed during World War II. A stone seat that once had a view of the sea served as his memorial. Inscribed onto the seat is ‘Memorial Seat and Trees to Flying Officer Robert Morris Jones, RNZAF, and his comrades, who in the 1939 World War gave all. For them, the bellbirds climb and the robins trill a requiem’ – a poignant reminder of those who have gone before us.
It was hard work to reach the top of Trig Track. We made frequent rest stops to get our breath back!! We didn’t see much wildlife on the way up. I think that we were making far too much noise for the birds to handle. However, the scenery was amazing. Occasionally, we could see glimpses of the Paraparaumu coastline through the dense bush.
When we finally made it up to the summit of Tuteremoana, the view was stunning. It goes without saying that our group reached the top first! We ate lunch at the top – accompanied by various Weka who tried to steal it. After lunch, the trip became slightly easier as we descended down the Island. We cleaned up the drains and the paths along the way. The lower reaches of this track harboured a more abundant variety of bird life and, judging from some of their action, spring was definitely in the air! Some of our group were even fortunate enough to see the Takahe. Kapiti Island is home to 14 of the 240 known Takahe left in existence.
On the way back to Ohakea we stopped in at the Foxton RSA for dinner. Ohakea recently donated memorabilia to the RSA from the closed Ohakea Air Force museum, and it was proudly on display. We had superb meals, and we extend a big thank you to the RSA for their hospitality.
The biggest thank you goes to F/S Murray Nockels for organising a superb trip that we all enjoyed immensely. He put in a lot of work to make the trip go smoothly, and this really showed as the day progressed. Overall, our trip to Kapiti Island was a success – even if we did have a few ‘moments’ along the way.