“People that come to Kurow – you walk it. You’ve got to walk the hill.”
Until recently, though, not everyone could.
First cut in the 1980s, the track that winds its way through the Awakino sheep and beef station was falling into disrepair. For many, the bottom section in particular had become increasingly impassable.
“The stairs were very much worn away,” says Karen. “It was really tough going, really hard on the knees.”
A $7000 grant from Meridian’s Waitaki Power Up fund helped reinstate the track, which hugely improved accessibility for locals and visitors.
Even more significant, says Karen, is how the community has improved the view, with another Power Up grant proving the catalyst for transforming a bramble-filled gully behind the town’s main street into a thriving wetland.
“Meridian have been amazing,” says the founding member of the Kurow Wetland Group.
“We wouldn’t have been able to develop this wetland without them. It was a swampy area right next to the town. You’d walk by the shops and there it was – an overgrown no-man’s land.”
When the group first approached the Department of Conservation with a plan to reclaim the wetland, the prognosis was grim.
“They said ‘good luck, you’ve got the five worst weeds in New Zealand there’,” recalls Karen.
“Everything that you could possibly have in noxious weeds, we had. It was impenetrable! We could hear a bit of water, but we couldn’t see it.”
A $20,000 contribution from the Power Up fund enabled the project to get off the ground, with diggers brought in to open the area by bush-bashing a track.
With Environment Canterbury (yes, this is still Highlanders country - it’s complicated) coming on board to fund willow eradication, and school groups contributing to planting days, the transformation has been huge.
“It’s amazing. We now have over 4000 native plants in there and it’s ongoing,” says Karen.
The once choked wetland turned out to be home to a population of endangered long-fin eels, is now the preserve of dragonflies and quail, and has become a genuinely attractive feature of the Mt Cook to Oamaru Alps-to-Ocean trail.
“It would not have happened without Meridian,” says Karen. “They saw what we were trying to do and said ‘yep we’ll help you start it’.”
It’s still a rugged part of South Canterbury – okay North Otago - but it’s now beautifully rugged.
“We are Highlanders,” admonishes Karen. “The river divides us. You’ll get some pushback if you try to put Canterbury in your article!”
Best to remember that when posting those snaps on Instagram!
