Project Tongariro Field Trip - Maungatautari Sanctuary Mountain - June 2026 - Register your Interest

We’re excited to share an early heads-up about our first Project Tongariro Field Trip for 2026, with plans underway for a special weekend at Maungatautari in June.

This will be an overnight trip, combining a full-day walk over the maunga with time the following day inside Maungatautari Sanctuary Mountain - offering two very different, but equally special, experiences.

The plan (at a glance):

  • Saturday: A guided walk over Maungatautari (approx. 5 hours). This hike is outside the sanctuary fence and does not include entry into the eco-sanctuary. A shuttle will be arranged to either drop us off or collect us at the end of the walk.

  • Saturday night: Overnight stay nearby at Rob Waddell Lodge - a great accommodation option that sleeps up to 40 people.

  • Sunday: Time inside Maungatautari Sanctuary Mountain, where we’ll step through the pest-proof gate and into another world.

The sanctuary offers the chance to experience Aotearoa’s environment much as it once was - an ancient, vibrant forest alive with native wildlife, including many of our rarest and most endangered species. Well-maintained walking tracks wind through towering forest, and the air is filled with birdsong. There will be a range of options for hikes and bush walks within the predator-proof fence.

We’re still working through logistics, so costs are yet to be confirmed. These will include accommodation, shuttle transport and sanctuary admission. Rob Waddell Lodge is a popular venue and needs to be booked well in advance, so we’re now seeking expressions of interest to help us make a tentative booking.

If this sounds like your kind of weekend, please register your interest now.

PT members will receive preferential access, so if you’re not yet a member, look out for the membership sign-up link below.

We’ll share full details once bookings and costs are confirmed. For now, registering your interest puts you on the first-to-know list.

We’d love to have you join us on the maunga.

 
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Kim Manunui