Lake Tutira

Lake Tutira is a bird sanctuary and was once a food source for Maori. It is possible to picnic and campin the grounds.
A remarkable book, "Tutira, the Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station" was written about this area in 1921. Herbert Guthrie-Smith emigrated to New Zealand from Scotland in 1880 and ended up farming 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.

There are two main walks - one around Lake Waikopiro (20 mins), and the other the Tutira Walkway which consists of two loops taking from 2 to 5 hours. Up on the hill on the western side of the road the residents have built a memorial church in memory of people from the district who gave their lives in the two world wars.