Lower Fairy Falls

This guide to Lower Fairy Falls in the Waitakere Ranges covers the years-long closure of the track by rahui after kauri dieback, a soil-borne disease with no cure, threatened trees on this land some a thousand years old. You'll hear how the disease spreads, why Te Kawerau a Maki treat kauri as ancestors rather than scenery, and what crews changed underfoot before walkers were allowed back. Listen for the stream below the boardwalk, built to carry you above the roots rather than through them.