47The rainfall of no name
A hanging garden of ferns and roots and air shows a fallen master once stood here,
With beech of red and silver, Nothofagus is the genus; podocarps aplenty and rata in its splendour,
And it seems Dr Seuss has been here with his truffula trees; Dracphyllum is the Latin name for these.
WithFehiandGitatryingtodotheirbest,‘twastherainfallofnonamethatmadethemostmess.weather.Lastyeartheyfacednotonly
twoex-tropicalcyclonesthatshattered
swathesoftheforest,butanun-named
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theirmid-valleycamp,tossedaside
heavydiggerandcrushermachinery,
demolishedthreewoodenbridges
(nowreplaced)andraisedWatson
Creekoh-so-closeto a new,veryhigh,
swingbridge.
“Therewerelightningstrikesand
sheetsandsheetsof rain,I’venever
seenanythinglikeit,”hesays,reaching
forhisnotebookof scribbledpoemsto
betterexplain.
Poetryaside,it’syogathatrelaxes
colleagueNigelWilliamsaftera longday
hewingmountainrockandwind-blown
trees.GordondescribesWilliams,who
wasawayduringourvisit,asa genius
withboththediggerandthechainsaw.
Hesaysa thirdteammate,JyeHawes,
busywashingdinnerdisheswhilewe
chatted,bringsskillsfroma building
andconstructionbackground.
“We’reallformerminers,foresters
orbuilders,”Gordonsays.“Withthe
extractionindustriesdyingoutonthe
Coast,theskillswehavearea perfect
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blastingrockandworkingwithdiggers
in opencastminesorona newtrack,
thesameprinciplesareused.”
Diggers,crushers,blasting,chain-
saws.Withsuchtalkonemightexpect
thenewtrackto beanuglymetal
wound,bleedingthroughbeautifulWest
Coastbushthatwilltakeyearsto re-
cover.I knowI did.Buthere’sthecool
thing,thenewtracklookslikeit’salways
beenthere.
It wendsitsmossy,fern-linedway
gentlyupthevalley,throughtangled
rainforestandtreefern-shadedtomo
shafts.Thetannin-colouredPororari
Riverburblingbelow.“Ahugeamountof workgoesinto
remediation,”saysDOC’sproject
director,TomHopkins.“Whenthey
striptheorganiclayerfromthetrack
surface,thesmallfernsandmosses,
that’sallputasideandwhenthe
track’sdoneit’sreplantedonthe
sidesandthecuttingsandcorners.
It settlesdownreallyquickly.”
Remediationgoesbeyondreplant-
ing,saysGordon.“Whenweput
culvertsunderthetrackwelinethe
edgeswithrockssoyoucan’tsee
thattheculvertsarethere.Wealso
usethelocalrock– limestonewhere
it’slimestoneandgranitefurtherup
thevalley.Tracksin otherparkshave
¿RZQ URFN LQ DQG LW GRHVQμWORRN ULJKW³rack builder, digger driver,
explosives expert, stoat
trapper, former miner,
staunch West Coaster
and sometime poet, Barry
Gordon, turned to verse
to express what he saw
when a succession of storms ravaged
the rainforest of Paparoa’s Pororari Valley
in early 2018 and played havoc with the
building timetable of the Paparoa Great
Walk.
Gordon works for WestReef, the West-
port company contracted to build roughly
a third of the new track, and which also
helped build the Old Ghost Road. He’s
been working in the valley since 2017,
based now in the new Pororari Hut as
the team forges uphill towards the tops.
The Great Walk is being fashioned
by three specialist track-building teams;
WestReef (Pororari Valley to Paparoa
Range), Nelson-based Nelmac (Pike29
Memorial Track and main range to
Moonlight Tops Hut) and DOC (Moonlight
Tops). All are following environmental
standards set by DOC, and the route
designed by mountain bike trail specialist,
Hamish Seaton.
When the three crews meet up they’ll
have created New Zealand’s newest and
only purpose-built dual walking/mountain
biking Great Walk track, encompass-
ing an impressive mix of karst limestone
grandeur, rainforest and rock and tussock
tops, plus mining heritage and a Pike
River Mine memorial. From the work
already done, it’s obvious these guys are
all about professionalism, pride in their
work, and sheer hard yakka. They’ve also
faced off against everything the weather
could possibly throw at them.
6LWWLQJE\WKH¾UHLQWKHELJEXWFRV\
Pororari Hut, swirling mist outside hiding
what he says is a stunning view, Gordon
was trying to explain the power of that
- Barry Gordon, track builder
Dwayne Ingraham compacts the track