Banks Track

Akaroa

New Zealand

Westport Harbour Board to cart rock for breakwaters, and eventually flax, timber, farm and domestic supplies as well as passengers. In total the railway was 24.3 km long and over its years of operation carted 1.2 million tonnes of rock, some weighing 20 tonnes. Curves in the line between the Kawatiri River and Omau resulted in some blocks falling from the train. You can see these today, sitting in farm paddocks, with some utilised for landscaping along the trail.

The quarry operated by Holcim at Cape Foulwind near Westport was in operation from 1958 to 2016, producing 900,000 tonnes of limestone and marl annually. The giant quarry trucks historically lumbered back and forth to the factory using the line of the old Westport-toCape-Foulwind railway. A restoration project has seen the 150-hectare quarry become a stunning azure lake, surrounded by native forest and wetland with almost one million trees planted.

This section of trail passes through native plantings and podocarp forest dominated by rimu. Discover the small dam and waterway, where in Spring whitebait and juvenile eels wriggle up sheer cliffs from the sea to make their way into this habitat. Rich birdlife includes bellbird, tui, grey warbler, fantails, silvereye and kererū. In future with predator numbers reduced, it’s hoped to reintroduce kiwi to the forest.

Distance 3km.

Tauranga Bay to Okari

From Tauranga Bay, the trail follows the old gold miners route which used the flat, sandy Nine Mile beach heading south towards Charleston. The beach could only be used at low tide, so timing for coaches and pack horses was key. Dramatic night skies feature along this coastline, with views south towards Mount Cook on a clear day.

Māori history dates back to the early 1300s, when in their search for Greenstone, they formed the ancient Māori Tai Poutini Pounamu Trail. Evidence shows a small seasonal Māori village once existed here during the 19th Century. In the large sand dunes numerous shell middens have been found. The Kawatiri area became a key stopping point along the West Coast.

European history followed with the 1860s gold rush route which stretched from Westport to Charleston. The route here ran along the beach at low tide.

Recent research shows Māori history in this area to be much more significant than previously understood. The estuaries and wetlands providing abundant food supplies for residents and travellers, and the Ōkari Lagoon a great food source for shore and wading birds. In the early days of European settlement a large number of artefacts were found at Tauranga Bay and Ōkari.

Distance 5km