Poukawa: Farm Tour, Name History and Nature Nearby

Poukawa combines a guided farm tour with cultural traditions and nearby water and wetland landscapes. When planning your trip, you can choose different focuses: learn about ecological principles, explore the area’s history, or take in the landscape and its birdlife.

Farm Tour and Ecological Principles

Kahikatea Farm is in Poukawa and covers 16 acres in the Poukawa Valley in Hawke’s Bay. It offers a guided tour of gardens and a food forest, where visitors learn about permaculture and ecological principles. The focus is on cultivation and design, and on how ecological ideas work together across garden and forest areas.

For planning, keep in mind that the tour is guided, but you should check current dates and availability in advance. Tour dates and prices may change. This lets you distinguish the tour from nearby nature experiences that focus on water, wetlands and the landscape.

Place Name and Cultural Traditions

One traditional explanation interprets “pou” as a post and “kawa” as lean or tasteless eels. The pepeha of Kahuranaki Marae refers to Poukawa as “te waiu” and serves as a cultural summary of whakapapa and traditional cultural boundaries. These accounts offer different perspectives on the cultural significance of the place name and how it fits into traditional contexts.

There are other historical connections nearby. At Te Wheao Pa, near Te Hauke School, young chiefs from the area were taught culture and warfare. The original Greenhill Homestead on the road towards Bridge Pa is associated with another story: members of royal families stayed there during visits to New Zealand.

Lake, Hills and Wetlands Nearby

Nearby Lake Poukawa is a large, shallow lake covering 195 hectares and supports a traditional Māori eel fishery. Under normal weather conditions, its water level can fluctuate considerably; water flows north through Pekapeka Wetland. Burma Road offers a different perspective on the basin and surrounding hills: it climbs for four kilometres through Orangihukai Valley to the ridge of the Raukawa Range. From there, you can enjoy panoramic views over the Lake Poukawa basin and surrounding hills.

Pekapeka Wetlands are also close to Poukawa. There are walking tracks and information panels, as well as opportunities to spot native waterbirds, including the rare Australasian Bittern. The wetland in Pekapeka Regional Park is 4.5 kilometres long, 800 metres wide and covers 98 hectares. A central area of the park is open to the public, with tracks, boardwalks and a lookout offering panoramic views across the valley. Check current conditions before visiting.

Protected bird species in Pekapeka Regional Park include the New Zealand Dabchick and the Australasian Bittern, the latter of which is considered very rare. The plant life includes more than 82 species, including native and introduced plants as well as weeds. The wetland’s cultural protection status is also part of its significance: Pekapeka Wetland has been designated a wāhi tapu under the Historic Places Act 1993 since 1997. The nature and cultural experiences near Poukawa therefore span landscapes and wildlife as well as cultural traditions.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Clifton, Tuki Tuki, Te Awanga, Karamu, Kahuranaki, Hastings, Waiwhare, Clive.

For the wider travel overview: Hastings District.