Make your way to Te Mātairangi platform, raise your eyes to the mountain range. A peak that sits to the north-west above Te Āpiti in the Ruahine Range is Te Ahu a Turanga. This name recognises the ancestor Turangaimua and a significant battle, and is the namesake of the new highway being built.

Beneath your feet was once known as Otangaki Pā, a Rangitāne outpost and kāinga. This was a strategic location for defending the wider Manawatū. Otangaki is in reference to the pulling of weeds to prepare the rich soils of this site for cultivation of kai (food).

Imagining an earlier time before settlement is easy in the Ashhurst Domain's native bush. Kererū (wood pigeon), tūī, korimako (bellbirds), riroriro (grey warblers), and pīwakawaka (fantail) abound, their melodic call echoing through the spectacular growth of ngāhere (the forest). Enjoy an encounter with endangered waterfowl in the Domain's wetland area, or catch a glimpse of white-faced herons, pied stilts, swans and numerous species of duck from the elevated viewing platform.