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Kaihoka Lakes
| Lakes are rare in GOLDEN BAY’S lowlands. There are glacial lakes
aplenty in our higher mountains while flooded sinkholes create small ponds
in limestone country, but accessible lakes are few. The two Kaihoka Lakes
are set in a forested reserve and were created when windblown sand dunes,
advancing inland from Kaihoka beach, blocked off the drainage from several
small valleys. Some of the resulting lakes have now flooded over their
sand barriers and, in draining, have turned into swamps. The two surviving
lakes at Kaihoka are still slowly rising and will be with us for many
centuries yet. A feature of the bush here is the massed presence of nikau
palms, giving a subtropical appearance to the pleasant track which links
the lakes. The coastal hills nearby form a dramatic backdrop to the lakes,
rising steeply to castle-like crests eroded into tough limestone.
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