Wai-iti Reserve/Domain and Walk

Not far south from Nelson (about 30kms) along SH6 is a small settlement named Wai-iti. And just before the Wai-iti Bridge if you turn left, you'll find yourself at a roadside picnic area. It's a decent size spot with several large totara trees and a couple of kahikateas offering plenty of shade.

A little further along is the Wai-iti Reserve. Although there's oodles of room it might be unsuitable for bigger rigs as the left hand bend is a little tight, and there's a few over hanging branches as you approach.

The Wai-iti Domain/Reserve is a massive area with mature trees bordering the perimeter. Picnic tables, toilets and rubbish bins have been provided to make your stay a little easier. It's free, dog friendly and kids will love the huge, flat space to race around on their bikes.

Behind the reserve is a forest walk, which eventually loops back to where you start from. 

To begin the walk, you start by climbing a gentle incline that hugs the side of the hill. After about half an hour (less if your fit, or longer, if like me, you're a bit of a stroller!) you reach the top. 

At the top (summit), you're rewarded with a peaceful panorama of rolling pastures before you head back down the other side.

Being autumn - it was the season for toadstools.

It's an easy walk, the track is wide and smothered with pine needles, plus there's lots of birdsong to enjoy. With no 1080 poisoning to worry about, dogs are safe off lead to run around and explore. 

After awhile, Oakly started to look for some water. We happened to stumble across a forestry water supply but when I saw the colour of it, I decided being thirsty was a better option than having a drink from it!

All up, the walk took about an hour and a half, and that included taking a wrong turn and ending up at a forestry skid site (which had a fabulous view). 

We enjoyed an occasional glimpse of Wai-iti below.

At the end of the walk we wandered over to the Wai-iti River (Wai-iti = small river). It's a shallow river and in summer it's known to be unsafe to swim in or drink from due to toxic algae. But after several recent floods I decided it would be okay for Oakly to quench his thirst.