Another look at Wainuiomata Scenic Reserve in the hope of discovering remnants of an old water catchment.
In Bush Bash 7, I explored Wainuiomata Scenic Reserve where an old water catchment from the 1940s to 1960s once existed. I found no remnants of that water catchment, but was determined to return and today was the day.
After visiting family, in Wainuiomata, I drove to the top of Hair Street and put on my tramping boots and entered the bush. I jumped across Hair Stream (which I will call ‘the main creek’) to begin my trek and diverged off the track immediately and headed right / east. The area was flat with grasses and some trees. Probably a swamp in winter, so summer was a good time to walk through here as it was dried out. I then came across a small creek and followed that up the eastern hill till I was above the head of that creek. I then scaled west across and down the hill toward the main creek through a small forest of fern trees on the slope of the hill. It was easy to navigate here as there wasn’t much growth due to the forest floor being covered in fallen giant fern fronds.
I then reached the valley floor and saw the main creek. I didn’t cross it, but heading north and parallel with the creek through the flat grassland, I found an old plastic container. But was it a remnant from the old water catchment days? Not likely, but it was a bit of a weird place to find a container here. Perhaps it was located above the hills on a firebreak, and was washed down to this location over the years. I photographed it and then headed back to the main creek and crossed it and bush bashed my way further and came across the main track.
I then headed north on the main track, further than last time and looked intently for anything that might look man-made to my left and right, but saw nothing. I turned around and headed south and toward the entrance, but soon saw a track or what looked like a track heading up the hill on the western side of the valley. It ended near a bait trap. I scaled the hill before me which was next to another small creek which flowed into the main creek. This was the easiest way to navigate upstream all the while getting a good view of the creek. Vines got a bit thick eventually and I doubted that anything from the water catchment would exist here, so I scaled along the hill in a southward direction or toward Hair Street. I found nothing of interest here, and checked the time. I had maybe 30 minutes left before I needed to be back in the car in order to make an appointment later in the day. So I headed down the hill toward the main creek, but not directly.
I eventually made it down to the valley floor again and came up to another small creek near a property. I saw a pile of smashed concrete that perhaps was once part of a fence and the water tanks that existed in this area. An old aerial photo from 1969 shows there were three tanks with areas where possibly two or three other tanks existed. Some of the smashed concrete looked like old fence posts that were perhaps similar to the posts and fence that still exist at the old Skerretts Creek water catchment. So maybe I did find some remnants of the old Hair Stream water catchment? Probably not. From here, I headed back toward the main creek and saw an old deteriorating fence in the bush, likely marking the boundary of a property. Perhaps it was originally the location for a fence that protected the water tanks?
I was ready to exit the reserve, when I came across an old thick steel cable around a fallen trunk of a tree. It had unravelled from the tree, in fact the trunk had grown around it, but as the trunk was rotting away, the cable became detached from the tree. Could this be a remnant of the water catchment? Was it used to haul out trees during construction in the 1940s, or pipes and other parts of the water catchment in the 1960s? Once again, I had no idea. I exited shortly after. Somewhat unsatisfied, I thought about quickly tacking on a little something else before heading out of Wainuiomata.
When I was a child, myself and some friends explored what I thought was an old culvert located near the old Empire Hotel, a tavern close to Hair Street and Moores Valley Road. I was in that general area, but I wasn’t quite sure of the location as it had been some 50 or so years prior that I last visited. However, I had asked a knowledgeable person who use to live in Wainuiomata about this culvert / pipe and he assured me that it was still there and that you could reach it behind the Louise Bilderbeck Hall. So I drove the car behind that hall and parked in the large convenient car park there. I followed a grass path up the hill and saw some concrete cylinder shaped drains sticking out of the ground. Further on, I stopped for a few photos of the new homes being built where the Empire Hotel once stood.
From here, I could see a large green pipe crossing over the Hair Stream, and thought the tunnel had to be there because the stream was no longer visible downstream. Indeed, it was there, so I entered the tunnel knowing that I had to leave shortly due my appointment. But I thought I could just to get a few photos for now, knowing that one day soon, I will return and walk through to the end. While I had walked this tunnel around 50 years ago, I honestly couldn’t remember where it came out. I do remember that you can see some of the shops in The Village at one point, when looking up through a drain.
Anyhow, it was now time to leave and drive to my appointment. Upon leaving, I knew that I had two missions lined up in the future. One was to walk through that tunnel and the other was to continue exploration in the Wainuiomata Scenic Reserve and look for any evidence of the old water catchment that existed here. While I may or may not have found remnants of the water tanks, there was supposedly two weirs in this catchment when it was operational. There was also an old track over to Wright Street that I would like to find, if it still exists.
Until next time.
