The Terrace next to the Wainuiomata River in Reservoir Valley may have had 2 huts that vanished in the 1930s.
At one time, Gums Loop Swing Bridge provided access to the four huts on The Terrace, an elevated strip of land along the Wainuiomata River. Several swing bridges have been built over the years, with the most recent constructed in 2002 and the first in 1912. Today, the area is accessible via Gums Loop Walk and Sledge Track which traverses through much of this area. Of the four huts that once stood here, only two are known today. They are Mackay Cottage and Pearson Hut / Scout Hut.
The two additional huts are only known through oral history. These huts were supposedly gone by the 1930s however, possibly dating back to the construction of the old dam that began in 1878. An overgrown track nearby suggests these huts could also be linked to the logging operations at Sledge Track. The Sinclair family and their workers used horses to tow logs on sledges out of what is now called Sledge Track, and transported them via tramway which is now Reservoir Road, to a mill near the intersection of Reservoir Road and Moores Valley Road.
After an extensive search of the area, beyond the two known huts, two sites have been identified as likely locations for these undocumented huts. One site has the base of a chimney with an attached pipe and the other site also has a base of concrete with a pile of old debris that appear to belong to a cast-iron stove, bench, and small table. Both sites are concealed by dense bush and are difficult to locate, even if you have visited the area before.
