Europeans arrived about 1800 and used it first as a whaling station. Maori of the Ngati-Toa tribe, led by the great Te Rauparaha, settled about 1820. Te Rauparaha's nephew Te Rangihaeata was painted outside his whare there in 1850.
European farming was established from the middle of the nineteenth century and by the mid twentieth century the original vegetation and wildlife had been eradicated. After use as a quarantine and breeding station it became a Scientific Reserve in 1987 administered by the Department of Conservation (DoC).
There is more history here if you are interested.
From a distance the island looks flat.
The trip was organised by a volunteer organisation called Friends of Mana Island (FOMI) who have assisted DoC with fund raising and restoration of the island’s ecosystem. We have been on two planting trips and I was interested to see how the revegetation is proceeding.
We travelled in a small catamaran and transferred to shore in a tender. If you look closely you can see the transmitters at Titahi Bay that carry Radio New Zealand broadcasts nationally and across the Pacific.
We did see lots of birds but it wasn’t easy to get good photos of most of them.Here is a North Island Robin who has turned its head away
This view is looking back over the wetlands towards the DOC ranger’s house.
Here flax is growing on the hillside. All these planting have occurred since 1987.
An attempt has been made to entice gannets to nest on the island. This is by installing a number of concrete effigies cunningly painted to look like the real thing. To date no real gannets have been fooled.
It was a warm day and after climbing up a couple of hills and travelling half way round the island we rested after lunch.
This is a trick shot! Mana in the foreground, the mainland in the background, but no sea to be seen.
Kapiti is north of Mana and seen here through the afternoon haze.
This is the oldest part of the forest – a manuka/kanuka stand. We saw many kakariki here.
Perhaps the most popular bird on the island is Takahe. These are very rare, with 10% of the total population of about 300 birds on Mana. Here one is marching purposefully into the undergrowth.
They are large birds, weighing up to 4Kgs.
Descending from the top of the island the path goes through replanted vegetation.
Between the island the mainland are a series of shoals – apparently early farmers used to take cattle across at low tide when the deepest point is about 1.8 metres.
On the beach Kawau roost in macrocarpa (it’s not wise to walk underneath, at least not without an old umbrella!).
