Bridle track discovery

In April 2010 a few of us set off to find the old bridle track.
Many of the longer term residents in the inlet knew about this, but no one had seen it for a while. There were many different opinions about where it started from. It is most likely there were a number of differnt routes both out of the valley and further up. Some said it use to go from above the old union camp and others from the valley and up beside the first significant stream on the East.

We discovered the track beyond the smelter at about 140 m elevation where the secondary bush starts. There are traces further down the valley in the manuka and scrub but most of it has been damaged by pigs .


There is a fairly easy walk up to the entrance of the track and this is now marked. It runs up a spur to the north of the old smelter and beside and south of the 2nd stream on the East. There is a good gradiant and it is reasonably easy to find. After heading along the grass track beside the stream for 70 meters it heads to the right (south) up to the spur above some pine trees, crosses an old water race then heads up through the Manuka for 480 meters ascending a total of 115 meters (from the valley floor) and  enters the bush at 140 meters. It is marked on the map as "entrance to bridle track" (41°04.830'S, 174°10.776'E)



The track is easy to follow and goes up to the top camp or settlement (when it crosses the fourth stream on the East it divides and one track goes up to the Top settlement and the other goes  across to another smaller settlement and perhaps a later settlement where there are still pieces of corrugated iron aound . Soon after this it crosses the 2nd incline (and telephone wire) and comes out on the 4WD road near the 2 concrete pipes. It continues on to the level 4 mine across the road.

These are a series of pictures taken along the way .

This at the start. There is a little undergrowth around and the track has been turned over by pigs but it is quite easily found.

Then it is quite easy  to follow

The vegetation is quite thick across the track in sections in the middle

Top section over the saddle and down towards Port Gore

View where it comes out at one of the the Marlborough lines roads (note telephone wire and pole)

It then crosses the road . We didnt explore beyond that but it looks like it is still in tact in places down to the bay below

(Not sure if the road down the hill is where the track was but this is where it goes back in to the scrub)