Kumutoto Restoration Project

21/08/2026

Last planting of the season starting at 10am and the best weather day so far! Come by if you would like to add a rākau to the 2026 story for the awa and ngahere 🌿

20/08/2026

Our 11th(!) and final planting after a long wet, winter season is this Saturday 22 August. It's been a mammoth effort by our team supported by both the Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council and we only have 144 plants left to re-cloak Kumutoto ngahere. If you would like to come and contribute to this 2026 planting then meet us at the lower carpark of Club Kelburn, 65 Salamanca Road, Kelburn 10am. Our session will be followed by shared kai at 12 so bring a bowl and spoon for soup! Hope to see you then, KRP

17/08/2026

Mystery solved! Thank you to everyone who enthusiastically commented on our mystery bell. It turns out it is a Burlington cistern bell, probably from the turn of the 20th Century. Being an urban awa it's no surprise that household detritus has found it's way into the river bed from nearly 200 years of settlement. We look forward to exploring what other items of our history the awa will uncover over time.

16/08/2026

Occassionally the awa will release a piece of history for us to unravel. Judging by the rust this bell may have sat covered by Kumutoto for decades. A school bell? A bell for the Terrace Tunnel construction team for lunch or knock off in the 1960's? We would love to remove the rust to see what information is hidden on the bell beneath. If you have any suggestions for how to clean this historical Wellington piece of history, please let us know. Perhaps one day soon we'll be able to hear it's song ring out over Kumutoto once again...

15/08/2026

Kia ora Minister Chris Bishop, the Kumutoto Restoration Project are the kaitiaki of the Wahi Tupuna awa which flows above the Terrace tunnel and which was piped directly underneath it during construction of the first tunnel in the late 1960's. We would like to extend a warm invitation to come and view the awa and meet the people who care for this river that was a birthing stream for the early settlers of Wellington. Please reach out to us to visit the site, we would welcome your insight into the care for the taonga sites of our city. Ngā mihi nui, KRP.

Progress.

12/08/2026

In this beautiful 1893 lithogram of Wellington by William Potts, Kumutoto valley can be seen in the bottom left corner. The banks of the hills have been cleared of native forest but the gully floor remains where the awa would have been flowing. To the left of the picture today would be Kelburn park and the viewer would be standing roughly at the Hunter lawn of Victoria University. That gully remained relatively untouched until the SH1 motorway and Terrace tunnel were built through the centre of it in the late 1960's.

10/08/2026

Thanks to all who came out for our twelfth(!) planting of 2026. 2800 rākau in the whenua, only one planting remaining of a long, busy, cold and wet season. Spirits were high on Saturday though and the rain stopped for us for two hours and only returned once we were having our shared kai. We had another big turnout with around ten newcomers to Kumutoto, which is becoming a regular thing. 200 trees left to plant on the 22nd August. If you would like to add your little piece to the history of the awa then meet us there 10am Saturday morning of the 22nd! Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou katoa, mo to koutou tautoko - thanks to all who have participated thus far!

07/08/2026

Back in the whenua āpōpō, our penultimate planting session for 2026 (whew!). 500 rākau/native trees to recloak Papatūānuku after removing the invasive plants that don't belong in the ngahere. If you would like to add your contribution to the restoration of Kumutoto then meeting place is the lower carpark of Club Kelburn, 65 Salamanca Rd, Kelburn at 10am. We'll plant through to midday and then break for shared kai. Our vegetable soup this week is being prepared by Micheline and Echo so bring a bowl/cup and spoon!
Ngā mihi nui.
PS the photo below shows Kumutoto forest in 2023, pre orchard or restoration work. The awa is in the top right of the picture, just at the end of the footpath.

05/08/2026

We were thrilled to complete our first Visa Wellington On A Plate event over the weekend, Kumutoto Kai me te Kōrero. Starting on Saturday morning with a one hour forage with Kumutoto Community Orchard founder Milan Magan, the event then moved to Sunday starting with a light lunch at Graze Wine Bar in Kelburn followed by a hīkoi following the awa down to Barts Glen where attendees were served soup prepared by chef Max Gordy, and then another short walk to Bert's Bar on Woodward st for a cocktail and finishing with karakia at the mouth of the awa. We had a fantastic time hosting local foodies and sharing the rich history of Kumutoto, we look forward to our second and final event on 29/30 August.

04/08/2026

We're big supporters of art that represents Kumutoto. In the past we've welcomed poets, artists and musicians who have all contributed pieces that enhance the mauri of the awa and ngahere through artistic expression and interpretation. We're pleased to share that Taranaki Whānui uri, Hana Buchanan, will be leading a hīkoi along the Pōneke waterfront and reading from her recently published book of poetry, Kupu Whenua, that will include poetry written for Kumutoto. This "Hīkoi with Hana" event is being held on Aug 29 and will start at AWHI yoga studio before proceeding around the waterfront and ending at the Cenotaph in front of parliament (also the site of the Joe Sheehan's Waipiro pounamu trail). Hana will stop at various points to read her poetry, including a stop at the mouth of Kumutoto for a reading about the awa. Tickets available here:

Join AWHI kaiako and author Hana Buchanan for a pre-spring event weaving words, walking and talking — nourishing all aspects of your whare tapawhā. Saturday 29 August 2026.