Kowai Bush and the Mears Track

Fantails follow you, darting here and there, catching the tiny insects we disturb as we walk.

Remnant Beech forest near Christchurch.

New Zealand was once a wonderland of deep, dense forests ringing with birdsong. Plants found nowhere else on Earth clad the steep, volcanic landscape and vast floodplains. New Zealand’s only native mammal is a small bat, so an abundance of bird species evolved in the forests, filling every niche.