Dec 10, 2025 Lake Tutira
We headed inland a little bit today to find a walk hopefully in the shade, it’s forecast to be a hot sunny day! An hour north on Highway 2 we stopped at Lake Tūtira in the coastal hills.
The lake looked cool and refreshing and is home to several black swan pairs as well as other ducks. They must be frequent visitors to have a carving of them in the campground field next to the lake!
We found a trail that went up through a shaded valley towards Table Mountain Track. The thick bed of dry leaves underfoot made our progress very noisy so we were surprised to see a kerurū in a tree not far from the trail. It watched us as we walked up the switchback trail to almost level with it! The kerurū, also known as a wood pigeon, is a large native bird that feeds mainly on fruit from native trees, leaves, flowers and buds. Its population is in decline and hunting of it is illegal. We’ve seen them on other forested trails and their flight through the woods is noisy!
My picture of the pigeon is on the left, I lifted the picture on the right from the internet, showing off the glossy colors of the bird in the right lighting!
We emerged from the shaded valley onto the grassy slopes of the hillside and hiked up in the blazing sun.
We waded through dry, tall grasses for awhile until we decided we wanted to be back in the shade! We enjoyed the view and the warm breeze then headed back down!