In the shadow of New Zealand dinosaurs

PAUL RUSH discovers hidden treasures in a magnificent primeval rainforest.

Could one of the greatest forests on Earth be here in God's Own Country? The "Botanic Man" certainly thinks so. When botanist David Bellamy takes a personal interest in a little-known corner of New Zealand, you have to be curious.

When he describes the area as "The Dinosaur Forest - one of the best Mesozoic plant communities remaining on earth", you really have to sit up. And when you also learn that the BBC filmed Life of Dinosaurs in the same forest, you just have to go and see the place for yourself.

The Whirinaki Forest Park was vaguely familiar, as I had often driven past the Te Whaiti access road, en route to Lake Waikaremoana, but I had never ventured into the forest. So on a recent visit to Rotorua I decided to forgo the array of thermal attractions and go on an arboreal safari.

I headed down to the junction beneath Rainbow Mountain and set a course for Murupara and Whirinaki Forest Park. Arriving at River Rd carpark, I knew instantly that this place was special. The surrounding phalanx of trees was packed under a cathedral-like canopy towering 50m above me.

The forest was profoundly silent. My eye followed the patterns of bark up the ramrod-straight trunks of the podocarp trees, which have been thrusting skywards for up to 1000 years.

Clutching the Department of Conservation booklet Whirinaki Short Walks and Tracks from the forest headquarters at Murupara, I entered the Whirinaki Falls loop track, padding quietly along the smooth, leaf-littered forest path.

There were no dinosaurs, but only a tweak of the imagination was needed to visualise them stomping through the delicate understorey of ferns, lichen, clinging epiphytes and dripping moss. The ageless Middle-earth mystical feeling was enhanced by the silence, stillness and the divine purity of the air. Bird life was active in the lofty tree crowns but the melodious sounds of the bellbird seemed far off.

Within minutes I arrived at the spectacular, slab-sided chasm known as Te Whaiti-a-Toi Canyon, through which the Whirinaki River races. Further on, the river tumbles over an impressive waterfall that marks the mid-point of the popular three-to-four-hour falls loop track.

Other walks lured me back into this ancient forest. The Sanctuary Walk is a one-to-two-hour loop through a striking remnant of close-packed podocarp forest vibrant with birdlife. The Arahaki Lagoon Walk is a three-to-four-hour return ramble to a rain-fed lagoon where tall kahikatea trees stand sentinel in swamp-rooted ranks, and a frog fugue reverberates through reedy margins.

What makes the Whirinaki Forest unique is the density of its lowland podocarp forests - a species that emerged in the Jurassic Era, 200 million years ago. The forest is thus a window on the past, extending over an area the size of Lake Taupo, sandwiched between the mist-shrouded Te Urewera and the manmade, exotic-pine plantation of Kaingaroa.

Podocarp trees are ancient members of the conifer family, with fleshy seedpods which birds feast on and distribute far and wide. The main New Zealand species, rimu, totara, matai, miro and kahikatea, are normally spread randomly throughout our mixed native forests. However, Whirinaki was directly in the path of the cataclysmic Taupo eruption of 186AD and succumbed to a devastating wave of volcanic ash. In the slow regeneration process the podocarps were dominant and formed this single-species concentration.

Take time out to explore this ancient forest and its primordial species. These priceless remnants are echoes of a time long past -part of our natural heritage, to be enjoyed by all.

CASE NOTES

Getting there

Take SH5 south of Rotorua to the road junction with SH38, turn left and drive to Murupara. The turnoff to Whirinaki is 17km past Murupara at Te Whaiti and leads to the River Rd carpark, the starting point for most tracks.

Accommodation

The Department of Conservation Recreation Camp has cabins from $30 a night. Ph (07) 366 1080, fax (07) 366 1082.

Whirinaki Forest Holidays has a cottage at $60, motel unit at $75 and backpacker beds at $17 a night. Ph (07) 366 3235, fax (07) 366 3235.

Murupara and Galatea Plains have camping, hotel, motel and lodge accommodation.

Adventure activities

Tramping tracks link backcountry huts in the forest, providing for two- to six-day trips. Trail and mountain biking are possible on a 100km loop track through the forest. Hunting, trout fishing and horse trekking are also popular.

Other forests to explore

Whakarewarewa Forest Park, reached from Long Mile Rd just five minutes from Rotorua, offering delightful walks under towering Californian redwoods and Douglas fir trees. Kaingaroa exotic forest, straddling the Rotorua to Murupara road, is said to be the largest manmade forest in the world.