A group operating a walkway spanning the Māhia Peninsula in Hawke’s Bay has been awarded an Outdoor Access Champion Award.

The Whangawehi Catchment Management Group includes marae, landowners, agencies and local communities, which united to protect and nurture the Whangawehi catchment and build Te Aratia Walkway. The group has planted over 250,000 trees along Whangawehi Stream.

Te Aratia Walkway was opened in December 2022. The first 6km passes through farms and riparian planting alongside the Whangawehi Stream. The second half winds through forests of redwoods, pines and cypress before the final descent to Māhia Beach.

Māhia Peninsula has one of the best examples of semi-coastal forest on the east coast of the North Island. Tawa, kohekohe, rewarewa, karaka, rimu, mataī and kahikatea can all be seen. 

A special point of interest is Piko O Te Rangi, Coronation Reserve, on the peninsula’s eastern side, which features a rock with a naturally formed basin that was used by Bishop William Williams to baptise Māori into the Christian faith in Aotearoa’s early colonial settlement period.