Exploring the land Cook thought did mot exist

Press, 29 December 1988, Page 19

Exploring the land Cook thought did mot exist

Off the A beaten 9 track

with I

Mark Pickering

Gebbies Pass was named after William Gebbie who took up land in what is now known as Gebbies Valley. He had arrived on the ship Aurora in 1840 and died in 1851 at the early age of 28-29, leaving a wife and several children behind. Gebbies Pass is the crucial low pass connecting Diamond Harbour with the Ellesmere area and it is also the narrowest point on Banks Peninsula, so narrow indeed that the peninsula was mistakenly named Banks Island until a certain Captain Chase in the Pegasus tried to sail through the “gap” in 1809. The pass area is mostly low-lying rural land with some interesting rock formations scattered about, and you can also get close to the huge water-bird habitat of Lake Ellesmere. Main highway:

Christchurch-Akaroa The main highway in this road section is straightforward travel, although it does have a number of deceptive bends which really do mean “50km,” “60km,” etc.

In places you can still make out the embankments of the old Christ-church-Little River railway line, and there is an original railway carriage (prettily painted and now someone’s unique private bach) tucked in behind the Kaituna Domain. There’s a nice rest area beside the church in Taitapu.

In several places the road gets close to Lake Ellesmere (in the part called Kaituna Lagoon) and one unmarked rest area in particular has a

good lookout over the Lake which usually has a great number of waders, swans and the like dotted on its surface. The turn into this rest area is awkward but there is plenty of car-parking space. The Maori called Ellesmere “Waihora,” which approximately means ‘water spread out.’

Where the road first comes close to Lake Ellesmere is a flat featureless plain which is used by land-yachties during the week-ends.

Gebbies Pass road Sealed and straightforward, Gebbies Pass road has a couple of tightish bends just on the south side of the pass. The junction with the Port Hills Summit Road at the top of the pass is awkward, and can get busy on a weekend.

There are interesting rock formations on Gebbies Pass road, just past the church. The rock outcrops are much larger than they look from the road, and take some fantastic gargoyle shapes, covered with a pale green lichen. The area is administered by the Queen Elizabeth II Trust. From these rock outcrops you can see other similar rock formations high up on the

other side of Gebbies Pass road.

Greenpark Huts

The locality of Greenpark Huts has a sunny remote spaciousness to it with its collection of baches and homes stuck out on the huge foreshore of Lake Ellesmere. The roads to Greenpark are metalled, dusty and straight.

Kaituna Valley road

Most people use this road to get either to the small, pretty Kaituna Reserve (which is a quiet picnic spot), or to the start of the walking route to the Packhorse Hut.

People going to the Packhorse Hut must park by the first farm gate beside the public road and walk from there. At one time the farm used to belong to the Historic Places Trust, but this is no longer the case. It is believed that the Department of Conservation, with the co-operation of the farmer, do intend to mark a route through the property, because at present it is a case of following unmarked farm-tracks up to the hut. A good day walk.

Further up the Kaituna Valley the road dwindles down to a pretty and very

narrow lane, surprisingly sealed right to the end, which finishes up in a private front-yard. A sign indicates the last car-turn-ing area. To go for a walk up to the large Mount Herbert reserve or the ridgeline you will need to ask permission first. Reminder It should be assumed that permission is always required to cross farm land on Banks Peninsula (with the exception of signposted walkways). The map is stylised and is not a substitute for a good topographical map.