Piopio, like Huia and Moawhanga, is named for a bird now extinct. Some historians say that the name was given to the area by Pakeha settlers, but whatever its origins it commemorates one of our most engaging birds that only relatively recently disappeared.

About 25 kilometres from Piopio, on State Highway 3, is Mahoenui, home of a species of the giant weta. Giant weta were once found throughout the mainland but disappeared from most of the country after Pakeha settlement because of the loss of their habitat and also because of predation by rats, stoats, weasels and ferrets. In 1962 a population of giant weta was found living in a four-hectare patch of gorse at Mahoenui. Although this particular gorse patch was destroyed by fire in 1982, shortly afterwards another colony was found living in a 250-hectare patch nearby. Steps have been taken to protect it.

If you have the time, the route to New Plymouth through Ohura on State Highway 40 is prettier, but it is unsealed in places and not as well travelled. Farming in this area is no longer economic and Ohura is today virtually a ghost-town.

This road takes you through the forested ranges of the Waitaanga where all the usual bushbirds are found. Kokako were here once but signs of them have not been recorded in recent years. There are old records of both laughing owls and huia having been seen in the area.

The third main route to New Plymouth is from Taumarunui to Ohura and then on to Stratford along State Highway 43 and via the beautiful Tangarakau Gorge. This route is unusual in that it is one of the few places where it is said to be possible to hear kokako without leaving the road, but you need to be a fairly early bird yourself. Robins, tits and whiteheads are all here in good numbers and it is worth while trying the 'cork and bottle' technique to entice them into view.

When one has finally arrived at New Plymouth there is plenty to see and many of the natural highlights of the city can be conveniently viewed by taking the Te Henui Walkway, which runs along the stream of the same name, not far from the city centre. From this path can be seen some of the fine exotic trees and gardens that grace the city.

Because New Plymouth was one of the first Pakeha settlements in New Zealand, exotic trees are well established. Yet not all of these were planted by the European settlers. The first fruit trees here grew from stones a Maori sailor brought back from Sydney in 1829. By 1841 these were large trees and prolific bearers.

Good stands of native bush - dominated by karaka, kohekohe, tawa and titoki - also grow at several points along the river bank and at certain times of the year these trees are popular with birds, particularly fantails, white-eyes, tui and kereru. The walkway also takes you through several quite extensive patches of open land with livestock and in spring the lambs make these areas look decidedly rustic.

Two reserves in New Plymouth with good collections of exotic trees are the beach-side East End Reserve, which is just off State Highway 3 at the mouth of the Te Henui, and the Pukewarangi Reserve, which is on the opposite side of State I-lighway 3, off Mangorei Road, just past New Plymouth Girls' High School.

The two botanical highlights of the East End Reserve are a large Queensland kauri, one of the best examples of this rare tree in New Zealand, and a spectacular bird of paradise plant, with its pale-blue flowers offering a pleasing contrast to its banana palm-like foliage.

Besides these, New Plymouth has a number of other parks with good tree collections, both exotic and native. In the adjoining Brooklands and Pukekura forests on the outskirts of the city are some fine kohekohe, puriri and pukatea and among the exotics are a particularly good ginkgo tree, a hickory and several excellent pines. The writer Sir H. Rider Haggard, who was also a connoisseur of trees, estimated one of the Brooklands puriri to be 2000 years old.

When the first settlers arrived in Taranaki they found land covered in forest - rimu, miro, totara, kahikatea, pahautea, kamahi, rata, hinau and maire, giving way to beech on the slopes of Mt Taranaki and other higher areas. This was also the southern limit of puriri on the west coast. Now this forest has given way to farmland in the inevitable forest-to-Friesian cycle.