Waihōanga is a beautiful place to explore something new: from activities on the river, to gentle relaxation or meditation, to gaining new knowledge and insights about local plants, lifestyle choices and bush craft skills.
We don’t organise activity programmes but below are some suggestions of local activities that might be of interest to your group. Of course, even without these organised activities, all of our guests have access to beautiful walks around our property and the area, and the private river beach – perfect for swimming and playing on the rocks all day.
Here are some local skills and experiences you might enjoy learning more about during your stay:
Ed Munn – Yoga / Pilates instructor
Ed is an experienced yoga and pilates instructor who can run sessions, tailored to the group’s size and needs, in the Waihōanga yurt. Please contact Ed directly to discuss options with him.
More information:
Ed (E) [email protected] (T) (06) 364 2160
Birgit Moffatt – Visual Artist
Birgit is a local arts practitioner who exhibits her work locally, nationally and internationally.
Her work is a reflection of living in a rural environment and includes natural dyeing, weaving,
contemporary basketry and photography. Her work often starts with a walk in the beautiful
surroundings of her home where she collects her art materials such as leaves, twigs, seedpods and
barks as a starting point for her work.
She regularly runs workshop for small groups at her home studio in the Ōtaki Gorge and she is
available for customized classes at Waihōanga.
More information
(W) https://www.birgitmoffatt.com/workshops, (E) [email protected]
For inspiration: https://www.instagram.com/birgitmoffattartist
Human Bushcraft and Wild living
Inspiring Self Resilience through Traditional Knowledge and Deep Nature Connection – Steve and Jenny give you the skills to connect more deeply with your surroundings and to begin seeing with Native Eyes all that is on offer in our abundant environment. From wild food foraging to bird language, tracking, bushcraft and survival skills to native parenting techniques, wandering and nature connection for kids, we have such potential, join us to find out how much we all can remember.
More information:
Steve & Jenny (W) http://human.org.nz; (T) 06 364 3337; (E) [email protected]
Nature’s Nest – Herbalist and speaker
Ali Sutherland lives on a small rural property by the Otaki River, and offers herbal and wild-weed walks and medicine making workshops, including helping you create a blended herbal infusion, a tonic vinegar, herbal oils, or balm. She is also a highly respected speaker, happy to join a group during the day or evening and share her knowledge of herbs and health. You can contact her for personal health consultations.
More information: (E) [email protected]
Rob ten Broeke and Anna Groves – Renew
Anna and Rob support people to express their creativity fully and to connect with themselves and others more honestly. They also live close by and are able to host workshops, private consultations and retreats either at their property or in the Waihōanga yurt. They have a wealth of talents in music, performance, choreography, breathwork, dance, hypnotherapy, and as change facilitators and integrate non violent communication and NLP into their practice.
More information:
Rob and Anna (W) renew-now.nz
Finders Eaters Foraging
Mike King is an arborist / forager living on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand hunting unusual plants and mushrooms for a variety of different purposes. He is interested in introducing and promoting new native plant products and educating businesses and the general public on native and foraged plants.
Ice cream is a great way to showcase flavours that he likes to utilize it to help people connect with the plants.
If you’re interested in edible plants, contact Mike to discuss private tours, tasting events (with ice cream!), native plant product consultation and educational talks and seminars.
More information:
Mike King (W) https://www.finderseatersforaging.com/ (E) [email protected] (FB) https://www.facebook.com/finderseatersforaging (M) 021 141 6637
Bob Zuur – Photography
Bob Zuur is a Kapiti Coast photographer who enjoys capturing the essence of weddings and events, especially those held at beautiful locations such as Waihoanga. Bob…
- Has a wide skill base: artistic and technical competence in a wide range of photography
- Has a natural style: light, airy and not over-processed
- Is discrete: ability to capture the moment unobtrusively
- Is spontaneous: quick turnaround of images.
For examples of weddings see: https://www.momentsoflight.nz/gallery-mol
And for events here: https://www.momentsoflight.nz/gallery-mit
More information:
Bob (W)www.momentsoflight.nz (E) [email protected] (T) +64 27 444 3210
Captivate Adventures
The Captivate team have been running rafting adventures and school programmes at Waihōanga for over thirteen years. Activities include white water rafting (day and night trips available), rock climbing, abseiling, mountain biking, guided bush walks, and archery. Captivate Adventures are audited (OutdoorsMark) and approved by WorksafeNZ as an Adventure Activity provider and by Maritime NZ as a commercial rafting operator.
More information:
Pete and Simone (W) www.captivate.net.nz (E) [email protected] (T) 04 2991595 (M) 027 2410199
Local walking and tramping
The Otaki Forks trailhead is currently inaccessible for vehicles due to a road slip. There are, however still other tramps and short walks in the area, which require a short drive to get to.
Visit the DOC website for latest details:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti