Guthrie Smith Arboretum

Guthrie Smith Trust runs the Aboretum and associated activities here, all the legacy of the pioneering environmental work of the Scots immigrant farmer, Herbert Guthrie Smith, whose landmark book, "Tutira, the Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station" was published in 1921.

He was the runholder for 40,000 acres on the shore of Lake Tutira. His explorations of his land and his close observations of the most minute details of its natural history are the subject of the book. Every living thing that made its home at Tutira – animal and plant, native and exotic, weed and non-weed – came under the scrutiny of this passionate observer of ecological detail as he sought to understand the subtle, intricate interactions between nature and human beings. Guthrie-Smith's book is now regarded as an environmental classic.

For a landmark envvironmental locale, there is some unpleasant stuff going on. The lake has become dodgy, with regular toxic algal blooms, casually blamed upon the runoff from this century's intensive dairying, a far cry from Guthrie-Smith's finely balanced farming practices.

Other attractions in the area would be the DOC campground and walks, and the unpretty but poignant war memorial church.