Hollyford Track

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Start of the track on the Hollyford River .
Bridge the path over the lower reaches of the Pyke River

The Hollyford Track is a hiking trail in the southwest of the South Island of New Zealand . It is located in the north of Fiordland and, in contrast to the other major hiking trails in the Fiordland, leads through flat terrain that is accessible all year round. It follows the valley of the Hollyford River .

history

The Māori settled in the area around Martins Bay , but when the Europeans arrived in the mid-19th century, only a few of them remained. One of them was Tutoko, after whom Mount Tutoko is named, which rises 2700 m above the Hollyford Valley.

Sheep farmers David McKellar and George Gunn had mapped part of the valley in 1861. The first European to reach Martins Bay from inland was Patrick Caples in 1863. In the same year a small ship under Captain Alabaster sailed over the sandbar of Martins Bay up Lake McKerrow .

In the early years of European settlement, efforts were made by the Otago Provincial Council to establish a commercial port on Martins Bay. One settlement - Jamestown - was surveyed and several houses were built. The lack of a road connection to the rest of the province and the dangerous sandbar in front of the bay led to the slow decline of the settlement. In 1879, only 11 years after it was founded, it was practically extinct. Only the McKenzie family stayed near the bay. She sold her property to Davy Gunn in 1926 . Gunn continued to farm, but also mapped the area and was a pioneer of hiking tourism. He led hiking groups along the valleys of the Hollyford River, Pyke River and its tributary Cascade River. After his death in 1955, his son Murray continued to work as a hiking guide and set up "Gunn's Camp", a rest stop for hikers with a shop and small museum, which is near the south end of the track, about 10 km from the road between Milford Sound and Te Anau .

A gravel road was started from both sides, but in 1941 the workforce was withdrawn because of the Second World War. After the war the idea of ​​a road between Haast was taken up again. Prisoners and the unemployed were used to work. In 1960 the Hollyford Valley became part of Fiordland National Park and Davy Gunn's have since been expanded and hikers' cabins built.

The track

The Hollyford Track is 35 miles long. It runs roughly in a south-north direction. The southern end is accessible via a road east of the Homer Tunnel , the northern end is on the coast of the Tasman Sea at Martins Bay, north of Milford Sound .

The path largely follows the course of the Hollyford River valley on the right bank of the river. The track runs along two lakes, Lake Alabaster and Lake McKerrow, through the forests of the lowlands with a view of the surrounding mountains. Seals , penguins and herons can be seen from the trail .

There are several Department of Conservation huts on the track . There are also guided hikes offered by the tourism organization of the Ngai Tahu , the main Maori tribe on the South Island, using their own lodges on the Pyke River and Martins Bay. These three day guided tours combine hiking, jet boating, and helicopter flights. Some hikers who hike the path on their own use the jet boats and helicopters for the return trip.

The 2–3 day section from the Pyke River to Martins Bay along Lake McKerrow is known as the "Demon Trail". The difficult terrain here is uneven and swampy, and numerous fast-flowing tributaries have to be crossed. The commercial tours bypass this section by jet boat.

Road construction projects

De gave several projects to build a road from the area around the Track to Haast and Milford Sound since the 1870s .

In 2001, a more popular newspaper advertised Hollyford Road and a road near Heaphy Track in a promotional supplement, "The South Island Loop" . Mayors of the South Island and other supporters pushed for the roads to be built. Forest and Bird , New Zealand's largest conservation organization, called this the "biological equivalent of destroying the Mona Lisa ". In January 2010 the government confirmed that the Hollyford road proposal was being examined. The Westland District Council and the owner of a hotel chain supported the plans. The plans were put on hold indefinitely in March 2010 when the government classified the investment as a low priority.

Hollyford Valley as seen from the Roeburn Track

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Department of Survey and Land Information (1988). Hollyford [map], 1st, 335-03. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  2. ↑ Ngai Tahu Tourism website for the track
  3. ^ A b Marjorie Cook: Highway through heritage . In: The New Zealand Herald , February 20, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2010. 
  4. ↑ Peter Christian: SI mayors backroads push , The Press. April 3, 2001. Retrieved January 14, 2010. 
  5. ↑ Road Proposals Similar To Smashing The Mona Lisa , Forest and Bird. April 11, 2001. Retrieved January 15, 2010. 
  6. ↑ Shane Cowlishaw: Hollyford road back before Govt , Southland Times. January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2010. 
  7. ^ Haast to Milford road indefinitely on hold . In: The New Zealand Herald , March 9, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 

literature

  • P. Temple: The Shell guide to the Hollyford Track. 3rd Ed. Christchurch, Whitcoulls 1984. ISBN 0-7233-0713-X

Web links

Coordinates: 44 ° 41 ′ 34 ″  S , 168 ° 7 ′ 33 ″  E