Tarapuruhi Bushy Park, at 791 Rangitatau East Road in Kai Iwi, near Whanganui, is a remnant of temperate lowland forest. The land was once part of a continuous forest that stretched from the coastal dunes to the central volcanoes. It was lifted from the sea and layered with volcanic ash, and it has a long history of conservation. While the land around it has been turned into farmland, the bush has endured.
The park shows what this lowland forest once was, and its conservation history is part of what it offers. Our pick near Kai Iwi for a look at lowland forest that has held on through farming.