The western estuary of the Buller/Kawatiri River comprises a network of channels and small islands and the whole area is protected as a Wildlife Refuge. The surrounding wetlands are a key whitebait breeding area and whitebaiting is not permitted.

A wide variety of birds feed in the area and include little shag, pied shag, black swan, paradise duck, grey duck, mallard, canada goose, white faced heron, white heron (kotuku), spoonbill, and kingfisher. The wetland fringe contains bittern and possibly marsh crake, while pukeko and weka are common on the adjacent drier land.

The rocky coastal cliffs and offshore islands are notable for a range of seabirds and the Cape is one of the best places on the West Coast to see them. Sea birds that breed here are white fronted terns, red-billed gulls, black backed gulls, fairy prion , and sooty shearwater. Australasian gannet and white-capped albatross are occasionally seen close in-shore.

Little blue penguin nest around Tauranga Bay and there is a substantial seal colony on the rocky coast north of the bay. The short walk up to the seal colony viewing platform is a must-do.

The reefs and rock pools at Gibsons Beach on the eastern side of the Cape are great to explore at low tide with a wide range of shellfish, crabs, and other invertebrates present. Take the steps down from the trail at the Omau Domain, about 300 metres from the Star Tavern.

A key feature on the trail at the Cape is a 400 metre section through pristine podocarp forest dominated by rimu with lesser amounts of kahikatea and northern rata. Tui, fantails, weka and kereru can be seen and heard here.

The greater Cape Foulwind area actually contains some of the greatest density of weka in New Zealand. At the Seal Colony walk car park you are sure to encounter some of these cheeky birds.

Wall Creek bridge at Tauranga Bay is well worth a stop. Peer down to the creek and you will see some large specimens of both New Zealand long fin and short fin eel and in the spring, shoals of whitebait.

The Ōkari lagoon is one of the largest estuarine areas on the West Coast and provides habitat for a wide variety of waders and shorebirds including a number of Threatened or At Risk species. Bar-tailed godwits, banded dotterels, caspian and white-fronted terns, spoonbills, several shag species, and kotuku may all be seen here. The lagoon is an important feeding ground for oystercatcher with 5000 pied oyster-catchers birds having been observed here in the past.

A short side-trip to explore the Ōkari Lagoon will offer the trail-user the chance to see these birds including long-distance migrants such as the godwit.

The section also offers the trail user the chance to see a diverse avifaunal range and also at night perhaps hear great-spotted kiwi. Birdlife is often abundant in the Ōkari catchment, especially in the springtime when kowhai is flowering.

The trail heads inland just before the causeway at the northern end of the Ōkari lagoon. Sacred kingfisher are almost always seen here on the power-lines adjacent to an intertidal inlet. The trail climbs gently up onto Landcorp farmland and then winds its way amongst fingers of native bush extending upwards from the forest lined Ōkari River. The native forest comprises a mix of beech and podocarp, with tall rimu, miro, matai and kahikatea, both silver and hard beech and a fringe of shrubland and kowhai on the banks of the river itself. The forest is quite diverse and structurally complex, shaped by a range of environmental factors such as degree of exposure to wind and sea salt aerosols, temperature, and soil fertility variation.

The Ōkari river is tidal for some distance upstream from the lagoon. The river and its tributaries are important for providing habitats for all five migratory galaxiid species (whitebait) as well as torrentfish, freshwater eels, bullies, and the brown mudfish. The spring flowering kowhai and harakeke alongside the Ōkari river attract significant numbers of nectar-eating birds (tui and bellbirds), providing an important energy-rich food source when food may remain scarce otherwise. Kereru meanwhile, are attracted to the young leaf shoots and flower buds of the kowhai. Forest birds are quite plentiful in this forest generally, with fantail, silvereye, tomtit, and grey warbler all being heard here. Occasionally, robins may be heard as well as brown creepers, shining cuckoo and long-tailed cuckoo, while ruru (morepork) can be heard at night.

A small, breeding population of great spotted kiwi occupies the forest and shrubland in the Ōkari river catchment as well as through forest south to the Tōtara River. Kiwi have been heard and seen (night cameras) during recent suryeys. The Ōkari – Tōtara kiwi may be isolated from the Paparoa Range population and must be considered even more vulnerable than those occurring elsewhere. Predator control has been undertaken for a number of years to safeguard these birds and this appears to have benefitted not only kiwi but the birdlife generally. The Trust is extremely grateful to TOKEN (The Tōtara Ōkari Kiwi Enhancement Network) and its wonderful group of volunteers who maintain over 200 traps, with a large number of predators eliminated so far.

About 1km south of the Ōkari River the trail ascends onto a 30 metre high terrace and for about 1 km traverses through manuka shrubland on a pakihi soil. Located on flat to slightly undulating land, the soil is poorly drained because of the underlying “iron pan” an impermeable layer of iron cemented sand or gravel. The thin, muddy soil above is wet and acidic and only a few plant species are adapted to grow on it.

The shrubland association is of low diversity dominated by mānuka with a dense understory of kiokio, tanglefern, and bracken, occasional swamp astelia, and lancewood. This habitat is considered optimal for fernbird and several birds have been seen here.

Leaving the pakihi shrubland the trail progresses into forested land with occasional patches of manuka.

Forest associations generally comprise a mix of hard beech and rimu and kāmahi is often a conspicuous or even dominant species, especially in the subcanopy. These forest trees typically reach 14 – 16m in height but sometimes reach about 20m where growing conditions are most suitable. The nature of the forest vegetation varies considerably depending on the low tier species present, aspect, drainage, and other physical factors. The forest floor and lower tier vegetation may comprise either a dense layer of gahnia, kiekie and supplejack that is difficult to penetrate or be quite sparsely vegetated and include ample vegetative litter.

The vegetation around the slow-flowing Eel Creek includes silver beech , and this cold-tolerant species is the more dominant beech on the flat alluvial stream-sides and co-occurs with medium-stature (16 – 18m tall) kahikatea. Other species that are more common are pepper tree and kaikomako. Palatable species that have persisted on less accessible river-bank sites include kanono and korimiko, mahoe and wineberry.

The trail traverses thick forest along the true right bank of the Totara River until crossing the Totara Bridge and entering farmland . The forest canopy reaches considerable height and silver beech up to 18m in height co-occurs with hard beech as well as scattered tall kahikatea and rimu. The understory is dominated by katote fern and kanono (coprosma) and includes a wide range of other ferns.

Birds present in this section include kereru, tui, bellbird, weka, ruru, great spotted kiwi, grey warbler, silvereye, fantail and kingfisher.

The Charleston area has spectacular and varied scenery with some outstanding ecology. From the mouth of the Nile / Waitakere River south are steep, rugged coastal cliffs and inland the pakihi terraces with their amazing gold mining history. Immediately east of the pakihi is an extensive limestone area with large cave systems and towering bluffs with lush rainforest. The forests and coastal areas support a wide variety of native birds including kiwi in the forests. There are little blue penguins and seals along the rocky shoreline and off-shore Hector’s dolphins are quite often seen. The elevated pakihi terraces have good numbers of fernbirds and probably one of the best populations of this species in the country.