51The55kmPaparoaTrackand10km
Pike 29 MemorialTrackcombined
will be the first new Great Walk in 25
years,and the first purposely-builtfor
bothmountainbikersandwalkers.Its
developmenthasa dualpurpose:to
bring economicbenefitto a regiontorn
bythedemiseoftraditionalextraction
industriesandtorememberthe 29
minerslostin thePikeRiverMine.
ThetrackcrossesPaparoaNa-
tionalParkfromnearPunakaikito
nearBlackball.It headsupthePoro-
rariValleyontothesouthernPaparoa
Range(bikerswillenterviatheInland
PackTrack).It passesTheEscarpment
limestonefeature,travelstheMoonlight
TopsanddescendsviatheCroesus
Track,a gently-gradedminer’strail.
Pike29MemorialTrackclimbsfromthe
PikeRiverMinesitetojointhePaparoa
TrackonthePaparoaRange.There
aretwonewGreatWalkhuts;Pororari
andMoonlightTops.
TheGreatWalkis duetoopenin De-
cember 2019 andthePike29Memorial
Track will open once the mine re-entry
project is completed.
Backat thehut,thetrackbuilders
arerelishingtheirtimein theval-
ley.Theteamworkssevendayson,
sevendays off and was due to fly out
thedayweweretherebutsuchwas
theweather,thatdidn’thappen.They
weren’tfazedandplannedto usethe
timeto checkthetraplinesWestReef
hasestablishedin thevalley.
Thebirdlife,Haweschipsin,is
amazing.“Whenwe first came in, pos-
sumswereeverywhere,weweretrap-
pingthemandtheyjustkeptcoming.
ThenDOCspread1080.Twoorthree
monthsafterthedrop,thepossums
hadgoneandthebirdlifeis getting
betterandbetter.I justloveit.
“We’vegot robin, tomtit,rifleman,
parakeet,kākā, falcon,weka,and
long-tailedandshiningcuckooin
summer.Weheardroroa(greatspot-
tedkiwi)whenwewerecampedat
WatsonCreek.Thekeauphereare
incredible,they’rehardonourgear
though,”helaughs.
Gordonsaysheusedtobeagainst
1080.He’schangedhismind.“Being
in here,I’veseenwithmyowneyes
thedifferenceit’smadetothebirds
andthebush.I sawsomewhiterata
floweringthis season, it’s just beauti-
ful,” he adds.Sometimes,Gordonsayshehas
toshakehimselfto thinkthisis where
heworks.“I’msolucky.Whenyou
livein anarealikethisanddothe
workyoulovetodo,wellit doesn’t
feellikeit’swork.”
He’salsolookingforwardto shar-
ingit all.“It’sgoingto begreatfor
theCoast.Whetheryou’rea bikeror
a walker,we’vegottheHeaphy,the
OldGhostRoadandsoonthistrack
tobringmorepeopleto seewhat
beautifulcountrywehavehere.”
TheWestReefcrewis nowbuilding
thetrackabovethehut.Gordonsays
theterrainis morechallengingbut
spectacular,with“alltherockyridges,
bigoldtotaraandamazingshapesof
rata”.
There’ssomethingelsehefeels
goodabout:beinguphigh.“I used
toworkin mines.I wasin PikeRiver
fora whileandI’vegotmatesstillin
there.It feelsgoodto beuphere,
closeto them.Wherewe’rework-
ingnowis theclosest,they’rejust
throughthere,it’snicetobeherewith
them.”
Andso,a keypurposeof thenew
GreatWalk,torememberthoselost
in thePikeRiverMine,is clearly,
already, being achieved.Crossingthefootbridgeover
the upper Pororari RiverFIRSTIN
A QUARTER
OF A CENTURY