On Thursday the 25th of February 2022, the walkway was a hive of activity. A digger operator completed an extensive track upgrade in the forestry with several culverts installed to capture excess water off the track. Several direction signs have also been installed. The signage work will continue once the tracks have dried up a bit more.

In the lower reaches, South Star is continuing the repair work with 2 diggers on site. The large slip has been worked with additional culverts and drainage systems installed. The track surface has been engineered to take the water off the track in the very steep parts.

The gravelling team is expected at the end of next week. We hope the weather is going to hold.

Russel Jane has been working a lot on our public facilities mainly located around the hut.

The stair case leading to the toilets is now completed as well as the kitchen sink bench and tank stand around the hut. More picnic tables will be soon installed near the crossing to offer a place for our visitors to rest.

Thank you all for your support.

The repair work is progressing very well. Several retaining walls and culverts have already been installed. A second digger operator will be on site this week to get the job done faster. The gravelling crew will be then able to start the work sometime next week (weather permitting). A big thank you to everybody for their help. We don’t have a lot of time left before winter sets and any additional support has been much appreciated.

On Friday the 18th of February 2022, Nic met with Chris Wilson to discuss the deployment of several beautifully crafted pieces of outdoor furniture. The picnic tables and sits will be dispatched to the walkway in the next few days once we have organised the logistic. A big thank you to Chris for his support.

The November 2022 storm weakened several sections of the track especially on steep contours. South Star Trails and the Whangawehi group are in the process of repairing the damage. Yesterday, Greg and Sio were building a retaining wall in the lower reaches of the track to secure a weak stretch. We hope that the weather will remain favourable to complete the repair work.

The earth work continues in the Forest despite heavy rain falls that have slowed down the work. The digger operator has done wonders and is currently working on the section between the White pine crossing and the Kinikini car park. A big thank you to Ben and Mahia Forest for their support. The installation of the signs in the forest has been delayed until the track work is completed.

On Wednesday the 9th of February 2022, South Star Trails started the repair work along the walkway. The task is significant and will require building retaining walls, clearing slips and installing several extra culverts. The work should last between 3 to 4 weeks.

We hope that the gravelling team will be on site very soon to start the long gravelling work along the river. We will keep you in the loop.

In January 2022, the Whangawehi team has been busy upgrading several public facilities along the walkway. Russel Janes, builder, has been busy building a stair case for the toilets and various picnic tables and seats. Malcom Westerlund has been installing a large number of interpretative and direction signs. The walkway is staring to look like a real gem. We will keep you posted.

In early January 2022, Colin Wilson from Pryde Contracting started the repair work on the big slip that damaged a farm track as well as the walkway. The early November storm 2021 hit Mahia with a regular and gentle rain during 5 days. Pongaroa Stations’ gage indicated 500 mm of rain during that event. A big thank you to Bevan Parker, Farm Manager on Pongaroa Station for assisting the group with this remedial work.