Ohope and the Wharekura Reserve

Here are two more images of Ohope Beach, and three taken of the Wharekura Reserve area on the short gorge road between Ohope and Whakatane.

I missed snapping you the rare sign 'KIWI WANDERING' at the beginning of the reserve. But I found one on a recent news item in the 'Whakatane Beacon'.

Photo Monique Ford

News

Theft of kiwi signs frustrates Wednesday, 12 January 2011 By Samantha Motion THE “kiwi wandering” sign on Ohope Road near Burma Road wandered off over the Christmas period, requiring yet another replacement. The top half of the fluorescent yellow sign featuring a silhouette of a kiwi was taken around the beginning of summer, and replaced on Monday. In light of the continued thefts, Whakatane District Council may consider painting kiwi signs on roads near the endangered birds’ Eastern Bay habitats. “That will be harder to steal,” council transportation manager Martin Taylor said. He planned to take a proposal on the painted signs to councillors in the near future. Mr Taylor said the thefts were a nuisance and he was working with Opus International to look at better ways to secure the signs, which cost $100 each to replace. Two signs near the Ohope Scenic Reserve were installed in 2007 – one near Burma Road and one near the reserve entrance, where a population of the flightless birds live. In 2008 the whole sign near the reserve entrance was taken, and in 2009 someone changed both signs to read “iwi wandering”. Fiona Hennessey, field centre supervisor for the Department of Conservation’s Whakatane and Opotiki branch, found the ongoing thefts frustrating. “It is an unnecessary waste of time and money to have to keep replacing signs. “We hope that the signs will serve as notices that there are significant conservation values in the area – our national icon, none the less – and will not become souvenirs. “We would much rather be putting time and resources into successfully raising kiwi chicks and protecting them from dogs and other predators, than replacing signs.”