Montana Heritage Trail

Section 3: Fenceline Track, Waitakere Dam to Simla

I have just consigned the previous account of this section to the halls of history. 28 November 2007 I revisited the Montana track and discovered there had been some changes made indeed.

The old Fence Line Track between Waitakere Dam and Simla has been closed and rerouted through terrain which Montana patrons are likely to find easier - and definitely more picturesque - to say nothing of the motorway tramping surface on the new section.

I have written to the ARC suggesting that the old track not be closed but be maintained as the downhill section of a loop walk from Waitakere Dam. I recommend that if you believe this to be a good idea you should email the ARC on info@arc.govt.nz with your comments. They can always use feedback like this, and the more there is the more likely it is to be listened to.

As you can see, the new track follows the edge of the Waitakere storage lake, about 30-50m back from the shore, and then sidles easily up to meet the original track about half-way between Simla and the start of the Robinson Track, access to which has been preserved.

Montana are still expecting you to do the walk anticlockwise, and I am still recommending that you do it clockwise as the Cascade section as at present constituted is not as friendly to tired legs as a descent via Upper Kauri Track. Maybe that is booked for a future makeover...

Simla, a small grassy clearing surrounded by pine trees, is the site of a small farm abandoned in about 1910. Publicity handouts speak about a picnic area. They lie. There is a clearing about 10m across where three tracks meet, and enough grass to half fill a lawn-mower catcher, and that's all. About fifty metres before the clearing someone has made use of some sawn sections of tree trunk to provide the only resemblance to a picnic area. As it's about half way round, it is a useful point to stop for lunch or a packs off break.

Anyhow, we've got as far as the Waitakere Dam and followed the signs across the coffer dam.

At the far end, the signage is not yet in place, but there are a couple of posts and a barrier over the entry to the old track. On your left is the new one.

This is top quality walking track. It sets you totally free to look at your surroundings. And taking the new route alongside the lake is an excellent idea. Mind you, I've just finished the Waikaremoana walk and maybe there's some carry over.

But for the moment we just make our way through some deep shade, and with a decent sweat on still from the walk up the Cascades track that's very welcome.

Sometimes the shadows, though, take on a life of their own.

The lemony green of a young tawa catches the light.

A tangle of supplejack vines is looking for somewhere to go. I had a wonderful black 4 ft length of this for a pointer when I was a teacher. It looked evil, and some of the newer lads were known to wonder if that was what a cane looked like.

There's the lake.

I fancy they're still a tad nervous letting the public this close to our drinking water.

We soldier on, and we're making good speed.

There's a lush young kohekohe nearby. When I was a lad I used to confuse this with puriri until I registered that kohekohe leaflets are in sevens and puriri in fives. I wish pate and five finger were as easy to sort.

I imagine at least some of these along here would have been plantings.

The track continues to arrive and be swallowed by our steady pace. Motorway walking indeed.

What have we here. Time to open the chilly bag in the pack and take out a bottle of our sponsor's fine products. Time to sit and wonder at the contrasts between the relentless steps of the Cascade track and the hard top along here. As Guy Clark sang, "wondering what it's coming to and how it got this far."

But he was talking about trains, not tramping tracks.

Anyway, here's the view.

Here's a young maire in good health beside the track

In fact most of the vegetation along this bit of track is glowing with health, including these young fern.

Somewhere else, reviewing some of the Long Road Montana track makeovers, I commented that their tracks were a lot like their wine, pleasantly dry but a bit thin. Well, I didn't think they were listening, but I've got to eat my words. The wine hasn't changed a lot but the track and bridge width here is ample for two of me.

There's a tall kanuka canopy, and not long past here we begin to climb.

and it's an easy gradual climb

A patch of rewarewa seedlings is pushing upwards

The fronds of the miniature tree fern, Blechnum fraseri, reflect the brassiness of the midday sun.

Another planting? Or are there enough kauri seeds in this part of the world to account for the small rickers scattered along the way.

The ground is littered with rimu debris, and so is Alice. A major combing job later, I think. Everyt ime she sits down to nuzzle a bit out with her teeth, she sits on half a dozen more.

I wonder how long the new track's been here. Long enough to collect its dusting of rimu leaves, not long enough to start growing things on the trackside banks.

It really is a gentle uphill grade. On the old track there were three separate ridgesto climb, up and down again, with Simla at the top. On this track, once you've gained a bit of height it seems to stay gained.

Here'sa lush young mahoe.

and we keep moving quietly upwards

Off to the left is a large group of tree ferns.

We enter an area where the gloom deepens and the trees seem taller than they have been.

Here's a young nikau.

We're climbing a little more steeply now.

We reach the junction with the old track and turn left. We're about 300m or so from Simla now.

I remember this track, all right. A shallow vee, not the most comfortable walking for ankles and knees, but a classic track shape in the Waitaks.

Can't be far now. That'll be one of the huge pines that mark the site of the old Simla farm.

And here we are. Lunchtime. I pour a milky coffee from the thermos and grab a filled roll. Alice says she'll have some roll too.

Here's the historical track:

This section crosses three successively higher ridges, ending at Simla, the highest point on the trail. It's a tough section, which is not to ignore a number of hyper-fit types in running gear who jogged past in a mist of evaporating sweat and B.O.

Profile from Memory-Map graphic

Simla, a small grassy clearing surrounded by pine trees, is the site of a small farm abandoned in about 1910. Publicity handouts speak about a picnic area. They lie. There is a clearing about 10m across where three tracks meet, and enough grass to half fill a lawn-mower catcher, and that's all. About fifty metres before the clearing someone has made use of some sawn sections of tree trunk to provide the only resemblance to a picnic area. As it's about half way round, it is a useful point to stop for lunch or a packs off break.

At the start of this section there is a three way junction. You can either turn left a hundred metres or so down to the Waitakere Dam - public toilets may be handy about now, or right towards the Saddle Dam and on towards Simla. This section took us just over an hour.

From here on, it's "No more Mr Nice Guy", and we reluctantly leave behind the peaceful reservoir lake

There's been a fair amount of water down this track over the winter, and while it's not bad underfoot, it can be slippery and it's not wise to take your eyes off the path.

Here and there are signs of the fence that gave its name to the track.

One of the delights on this walk is the more or less continuous birdsong, though the birds themselves are fairly elusive. Now and again we get lucky but good shots are hard to come by. This pigeon kept moving relative to Miranda so that it was nearly always partially masked by vegetation.

photo by miranda woodward

From time to time as we get higher, the surrounding vegetation gets shorter, and we get occasional glimpses out.

I get to thinking I haven't seen any track that finds so many ways of going upwards. Alice is managing reasonably well except when we go through areas where rimu are growing. Rimu sticks to her coat like a burr, and everytime she sits down to try and get a piece out, she adds another half dozen. It's a major combing job at the end of the day, even allowing for those we take out along the way.

Miranda is wearing raingear as it's been showery since about an hour after we started, and the wind, even in mid-September, still has a bite in it when you stop.

As we cross the top of each ridge there are fewer big trees, and the vegetation is generally lighter and scrubby. Along here much of the track is dusted with manuka petals. (Kanuka will not be out en masse until nearly Christmas.) Manuka flowers are quite beautiful when you take the time to stop and look, and Miranda's camera captures this one superbly. (Taken elsewhere, a day or two previously but apropos, so I'll include it.)

By this time we have been walking nearly 4 hours with a short packs off break for a snack and a sit at the Waitakere Railway Shelter (I mention elsewhere about inadvertently "detouring" via the Anderson, West Tunnel Mouth and Waitakere Dam Railway Tracks. I'll report on those later and post a link here.)

We've been drinking water regularly, but our blood sugar is getting a bit low and Miranda is doing "grumpy", but trying not to let it show. I have reverted for the most part to taking record shots of the track and not paying much attention to the vegetation along the track, which is one of my main reasons for tramping anyway. We are in "tramping to get there" mode.

We reach another lookout point, with grand views down the valley. Alice heads for the edge and I wonder whether her collar is tight enough not to slip off if we have to haul her back to safety by her lead.

Miranda is using only one hiking pole and has been carrying the lead for much of the time. She is also more sure of her footing. I have been carrying the pack with spare clothes, snacks, etc. As a general comment, you can manage either a dog lead or two poles, but not both, not when it's steepish and slippery, anyway.

More steps...

Alice has been flagging a little and is starting to do her "Carry me, please" routine, but just then company arrives. A chocolate labrador the same age as she is. She is overjoyed, and they play for a couple of minutes while both owners haul on leads in the approved fashion. But she's stuffed her credibility properly as far as being exhausted goes.

We reach the junction with the Robinson Ridge Track. 1hr 30 min to the carpark. It's tempting. Until I remember that this track takes us down, down, down to the Cascade track and then nearly vertically upward to get back to the carpark itself. Some other time. I can do with a downhill run for the last bit, not a stiff climb. The good news is that we are only ten minutes from Simla and not far off the advertised time.

Then I realise I am so bloody tired I'm not even looking at the right sign

Ten minutes to Simla. Sure enough, the track eases off, and we begin to see, here and there, pine trees marking the site of the original farm. We reach the clearing, sum it up as a potential picnic spot - it's still showering intermittently - score it near zero, and head back about 50 metres to where somebody has organised some old pieces of pine trunk. Lunch is welcome and the thermos of tea is even more so.

Given the effort that has gone into the Montana Heritage Trail information board and the signposts, given the spot is recommended in the handout as a halfway break point and picnic spot, a minimal shelter and a seat would have been better reward for our efforts. But given that we have reached here in a fraction of the three days the original farmer took to make the trip from Auckland, we've made at least some progress.