Just 13 km east of Woodville, Awapikopiko Reserve, a 28-hectare tawa-podocarp forest, it was gifted to QEII National Trust in 1995 by David Druce. The Awapikopiko Reserve walking track that passes through the forest and is rich in native flora, with more than 130 recorded species.

The reserve has been lucky to have local Kumeroa School involved in several argi-curriculum projects focused on Awapikopiko Reserve.

A recent project involved designing and installing signs along the track about the various flora and fauna that can be found in the reserve. This provided the students with an opportunity to learn about some of their favourite species and do some research to create new signs for the tracks.

The pupils have been working on the signs since April and were involved in every step of the way, from researching the species and writing the text on the signs, and even picking the photos that were shown alongside. With some help from QEII Regional Representative, Bill Wallace and support from the QEII head office team, the signs were created into the glossy informative signs.

The signs were installed along the tracks in two batches. The first one included the Kumeroa construction group that helped put in the supporting posts for the signs. The second was with the Awapikopiko group who screwed the signs on the posts, along with some members from the QEII Wellington office heading up to help.  It was a great day with the kids who enjoyed seeing their creations come to life.

Awakpikopiko Reserve is one of many QEII covenants with public access. To get there, 13km east of Woodville, turn off SH2 and travel to Kumeroa. Follow Kumeroa Road to Druce road, where the reserve is signposted.