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Hi, I'm Andrew Mercer and I would like to take you on a walk today through our beautiful Manawatu Gorge.
The Manawatu Gorge track is a little over 10 km from one end to the other.
From the road the track climbs about 280 metres and then traverses the length of the gorge.
It takes about 3-4 hours to walk depending on how fast you go and how long you stop to
enjoy the views. But you can run it in 45 minutes.
Groves of Nikau are one of the features of the walk. Nikau is our only native palm, it
takes more than 15 years to start to form a trunk, 30 years to produce fruit and 200 years to
get to 10 metres high.
The forest canopy here is mainly tawa and native conifers like matai and kahikatea.
The New Zealand Transport Agency built a lookout over a massive slip that closed the road form
August 2011 to September 2012.
For most of the walk you are sheltered by native bush, but occasionally the track breaks
out of the forest cover to provide some stunning view points along the way.
The views you get of the Manawatu above, below and beyond are breathtaking from viewing platforms
along the track.
A short loop track at the eastern end is a great option for young families. A must see
is a huge totara tree with a viewing platform to protects it's fragile roots.
If you haven't walked the gorge before get a group of friends together and give it a
go.
[Cheers, well done everyone]