Haiku Pathway

The small town of Katikati in rural Bay of Plenty may seem an unlikely home to one of the finest haiku monuments outside Japan, but that's where you'll find the Haiku Pathway, a meandering riverside stroll punctuated by boulders engraved with poems.

The pathway runs either side of the Uretara Stream and links the town's centre with the Highfields subdivision via the footbridge. The pathway has already been extended once and plans are to extend it further. The park-like setting, which includes trees, seats, and picnic tables, is also a popular venue for one of the town's annual Summer Twilight Concerts.

Winning haiku from the biennial Katikati Have-a-Go Haiku Contest have been engraved on flagstones and set into the pathway as a means of involving the community, including children, without compromising the quality of the boulder poems.