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.
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.
Ed Munn – Yoga / Pilates instructor
Ed is an experienced yoga and pilates instructor who lives locally and 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
Watene Kaihau – Māori cultural advisor
With extensive local knowledge and experience in Te Ao Māori, Watene is a skilled Māori cultural advisor, facilitator, and storyteller committed to fostering culturally inclusive environments across various sectors. Raised in a Māori immersion environment, where the beach, river and forest were the classrooms.
Watene is fluent in te reo Māori and deeply knowledgeable in tikanga Māori, pōwhiri, waiata, mihi, pepeha and karakia and is very happy to share his knowledge with others. He can provide a welcome to Waihōanga, share the history of the area and people, and lead or participate in kōrero relevant to your group. He can also offer lessons in te reo and tikanga, and how to incorporate tikanga in the organisation, whakatau workshops including mihimihi and pepeha, waiata, and kapa haka practices.
More information:
(E) [email protected] (T) 027 469 5709
Heather Arcus – local knowledge, local walks
Guided nature walks, tailored to your group, are available with Ōtaki Gorge local, Heather Arcus. These walks will take you through private land accessible directly from Waihōanga but not available to guests without a guide.
For more information, ask Waihōanga directly about availability for your booking.
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]
Hā Pai Wellness
Hā Pai Wellness, is a holistic wellbeing studio based in in Ōtaki, we are grateful to have the founder Kim Tasker sharing her unique gifts at Waihōanga.
Kim synergises a te ao Māori perspective, with her unique lived experiences, as an international yoga, breathwork facilitator, retreat host, remedial therapist and educator to hold space for transformation and healing.
Utilising the holistic framework of Te whare tapa whā, she weaves experiences that evoke mauri ora (thriving wellbeing) and mauri tau (deep calm),
Āio ki te Rangi ~ Āio ki te papa ~ Āio ki ngān mea katoa~ Tihei Mauri Ora!
Peace to the sky – Peace to the Earth ~ Peace to everything in between
Tihei Mauri Ora
More information
(W) https://www.hapaiwellness.com/ (E) [email protected]
Donna Simmen – Massage Therapist
Donna offers Relaxation and Remedial Massage on site at Waihōanga. She obtained her Certificate in Therapeutic Massage in 1997. Since then she developed her own Swedish style massage technique, which helps relieve muscle tension and stress in the body and mind. She has also added a Reiki First Degree Certificate. She has a passion to help people by relieving stress and
promoting wellbeing.
Donna’s massage at Waihōanga usually takes place in Pīwakawaka cabin, situated in the middle of nature, besides a small babbling brook.
More information:
(W) www.sensationsbymassage.co.nz
(M) 020 4091 2498 or (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]
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
Orbital Blaze
Orbital Blaze are local fire performers who can light up your night at Waihōanga… one to three performers and a variety of set lengths and music depending on your event.
More information:
W: Orbital Blaze Facebook or ask Waihōanga to enquire about availability for your booking.
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 and it’s also possible to walk across the skip (via a safe walkway) and access the Ōtaki Forks by foot.
Visit the DOC website for latest details:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti