Otukaikino - Wilson's Swamp

Concerted conservation efforts have here returned a non productive and rather soggy leftover farm to it’s natural state of freshwater wetland and provided a contemplative recreation area combined with a wildlife management park.

Like much of Canterbury swampland drained by settlers for farms which were later unsuccessful when the waters returned, Otukaikino, taken by the government for motorway development, had deteriorated by the 1980s to a 13 hectare puddle full of Willow trees which grow well with wet feet.
Transfer to DoC management and an injection of a whole lot of manpower since 1992 is resulting in the steady increase of native plants, eels, birdlife and the entire wetland ecosystem. A network of timber boardwalks provides access, the whole loop being a simple and flat 1.2km.

For the original inhabitants Te Runanga Te Ngai Tuahuriri, this swamp was tapu (sacred) as it had been chosen by their tohunga (medicine men) as their place for preparing bodies for burial. DoC's 'Meet the Locals'clip here explains this heritage.

Strategically or coincidentally, long term sponsorship by a local funeral home has helped the project along and added to the theme of the wetland as a natural and living memorial.

The tapu status of the Otukaikino provides a spiritual backdrop to the visitor experience, therefore guests are asked to maintain respect by not eating or drinking and just to walk quietly and respectfully through the park without running or shouting. For the same reason there are no toilet facilities here, but there is a paddock next to the carpark which is available for picnicking and has a toilet.