Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari Camp
March 2026 Maungatautari Camp
Our student leaders had an amazing opportunity to be only the second group to stay overnight in the new education centre at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari - the largest predator free sanctuary in the world! It was an incredible experience full of learning and adventures that they will never forget. As one student said,
“That camp has changed my whole outlook on life. It has made me love bushwalks and want to get into tramping.”
After arriving, having lunch and excitedly setting up our sleeping mats, we got ready to set off on our first adventure. We hiked the Over the Mountain Track all the way up to the rocky outcrop. We chose to leave the gravel path and head into the bush, having to follow arrows and make our way through some rough terrain. Tieke (saddlebacks) screeched at us as we climbed and flocks of popokotea (whiteheads) flitted around. Robins hopped along the track in front of us and chatted away to us as we hiked past. We even heard a kōkako’s beautiful pan-pipe call from the trees beside us. Everyone loved finding the path, navigating tree falls, climbing steep banks using roots as hand holds, and eventually emerging on the rocky ledge. We were buzzing with the feeling of achievement as we took in the breath-taking view over the tree tops to faraway mountains.
After dinner, we put on our our warm clothes and headlamps, and as as the sun set, we spotted pekapeka/bats from the deck before heading back out into the sanctuary. As the night grew darker, the bugs started emerging. We had beetles and wētā jumping around our feet and we spotted glow worms sparkling in the banks. Huge sheet web and tunnel web spiders emerged too. Ruru called and occasionally a kiwi screeched nearby. With over 3000 kiwi on the mountain we thought we might spot one, but we had to settle for hearing them close by. One group even had a close encounter with a kererū that dropped down right beside them!
Despite the late night of adventure, some keen students managed to get up early for a dawn walk before breakfast too! They had a robin sit in the middle of the path, hop around their feet, and chatter to them at length. These magical moments made the camp an adventure that will be forever memorable.
The amazing educators from Sanctuary Mountain met us and took us on a wetland tour. They shared their knowledge of Aotearoa’s taonga species and answered all of our tricky questions. We were able to creep quietly around the tuatara enclosure with tuatara lazing beside the path staring at us. It was incredible to see these ancient creatures so close to us.
After leaving the tuatarium, we hung out with a family of takahē, watching them wander around us calling to each other, before feeding them from the feeder. It’s amazing to think that not so long ago this species was thought to be extinct and now we were so close to a whole family of them.
After lunch and cleaning up, we explored the gift shop and got ice creams. Then, we played some games on the grass before heading off for our last challenge - the Te Tūī a Tāne Treasure Hunt through the Southern Enclosure. It had us reading information signs in the beautiful forest, climbing the tall tower to see what the canopy is like, and watching kākā screeching around the bird feeder area. One kākā flew so close that its wing brushed the ear of a student!
This camp was an experience like no other. Two days of exploring the world’s largest predator free sanctuary was incredible and we all learnt so much about the unique flora and fauna of Aotearoa. We highly recommend this as a class/club trip to others. Thanks so much to the team at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari for making this happen!
