Golden Bay XI: The Te Waikoropupu Hydro Walk

The Hydro Walk above the Te Waikoropupu Springs is a circuit around Campbell's Creek formed from the access road and water race developed for gold sluicing in the area.

It goes through interesting forest and bush. It ascends steeply to 200m and follows a loop at or around the 200m contour through lowland beech and podocarp forest.

The South side is open to the sun with taller mature trees. The north side follows the water race and is damp and dark with a profusion of ferns, mosses and liverworts and a dense understory of tree ferns.

There is a very active trapping programme to try and control possum, rats and stoats predating birds, damaging the trees and laying waste to the carnivorous Powelliphanta snails that populate this north-western corner of the South Island.

A volunteer we met said that the controversial pesticide 1080 had been air-dropped on neighbouring forests and that it had wiped out a lot of bird life in the upper valley. See my To Air Drop or Not for more on the 1080 controversy in New Zealand.

Powelliphanta snail Hydro Walk Golden Bay — Powelliphanta snail in its stronghold in south-west Nelson. A forest-dwelling carnivore that eats earthworms like spaghetti. Hydro Walk Golden Bay

The area was part of the Golden Bay goldfield and the impressively engineered water race was built to sluice out gold-bearing gravels. The race was completed in just six months by eight men in 1901. It had an 123 metre head that gave it the required pressure for the sluicing hoses. The mine, run by Charles Campbell until 1910, was the richest (in terms of dividends paid) in Golden Bay.

In 1929 the water race was used to run a small hydroelectric power station. Apparently Golden Bay residents were suspicious of the new technology and had to be persuaded to hook up to the mini-grid.

In 1981 the station suffered a 'flashover'. that severely damaged the generating gear. Abandoned it was re-instated by the Pupu Hydro Society and began generating again in 1987 (See DOC).

A Gully or slender tree fern - Cyathea cunninghamii - at the start of the Hydro Walk aboe the Waikoropupu valley in Golden Bay.

Five Finger/Puahou - Pseudopanax arboreus - on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

View across the Te Waikoropupu Valley to Golden Bay, Separation Point and the bare limestone uplands of Takaka Hill.

Powelliphanta snailstruggling on sharp gravel, Hydro Walk Golden Bay — Powelliphanta snail struggling on sharp gravel, Hydro Walk Golden Bay. One of 21 species under threat from possum and rat predation. They are the largest snails in the world.

Pendulous Rimu foliage at Pu Pu Springs in Golden Bay

New Zealand Bracken (Pteridium esculentum)

Sticherus cunninghamii (Umbrella Fern). This genera of fern was known to grow on Gondwana 80 million years ago

A late flowering Southern Rata in Golden Bay: a key constituent of lower montane forest.

Moss and lichens on the north side of the Campbell Creek Valley on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

Gahnia rigida - a tall sedge with a cutting-edged leaf.

Tiny lichen growing on a dry mud bank on the north side of the Campbell Creek Valley on the Hydro Walk.

Epiphytes (probably Kiekie - Freycinetia banksii) on the north side of the valley cloaking the trees on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

Possibly Metrosideros fulgens (Scarlet vine rata)

A volunteer worker on the pathway and Karen. He remarked that since the nearby drop of 1080 poison bird song in the valley has hugely diminished.

Moss on the water-race bank, Pupu Hydro walk, Golden Bay.

Possibly Tawhiti-para/King Fern - Ptisana salicina - on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

Looking back across Campbell Creek to the sunny side of the valley - rimu and mountain beech predominate. Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

Stoat trap, Hydro Walk, Golden Bay. After mast years the mouse population explodes as do staorts. Once the mouse population diminishes the stoats turn their attention to the birds.

Umbrella and king fern and Creeping Club Moss on the Pupu Hydro Walk — Umbrella and king fern and Creeping Club Moss on the Hydro Walk.

Acaena novae-zelandiae (Bidibid)? on the Hydro Walk in Golden Bay.

Rat trap baited with an egg, Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

Tu tu berries. The Tu tu is widespread and highly poisonous. — Tu tu berries. The Tu tu (Coriaria arborea) is widespread and highly poisonous.

Possibly Maidenhair vine/pohuehue - Muehlenbeckia complexa - and an epiphyte (Tmesipteris tannenis - Hanging fork fern)growing from a tree fern stem on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay. — Possibly Maidenhair vine/pohuehue - Muehlenbeckia complexa - and an epiphyte (Tmesipteris tannenis - Hanging fork fern)growing from a tree fern stem (probably Silver Fern/Ponga) on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

Tarawera/Button fern - Pellaea rotundifolia - on the Pupu Hydro Walk. Growing on the rock cutting above the water race.

The weir on the Campbell Creek that diverts water to the pumphouse water-race on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

The leat and pathway on the shaded side of the Campbell Creek valley on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay. — The water-race and pathway on the shaded side of the Campbell Creek valley on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

Bracket fungus on a Mountain Beech on the Hydro Walk, Golden Bay.

Quintinia serrata (Tawheowheo) on the Hydro walk, Golden Bay.

Silver fern/ponga - Cyathea dealbata - growing in a very shaded location on the north side of the Campbell VAlley on the Hydro Walk. National symbol of New Zealand the upturned fronds were cut to mark pathways at night.

Detail of Silver fern/ponga frond - Cyathea dealbata

Regenerating forest on the south side of Campbell's Creek.

Golden Bay XII: Pohara