McLean Falls Track

In the late 1980s Kings High School started using the Tautuku camp in the Catlins – initially as a leadership retreat for seventh formers at the start of the year.e Ivan Somerville, who founded the Tautuku Lodge suggested doing the track to McLean Falls up, as the existing one was poor and prone to muddying up. Noel Johnston (Kings staff 1980 – 2007) wanted to set up a worthwhile community project for the boys and the Maclean Falls track was the ideal job. Noel was instrumental in setting up what turned out to be a committed and worthwhile community project. Kings High School staff and pupils worked on the McLean Falls track from 1986 until 1996. The Department of Conservation staff designed the track and approved it

.Peter Chalmers (deceased) from the Department of conservation was in charge of the project, and Chris Bennett was his second in charge. They were pivotal in seeing the project through.

Noel advises that it was a really good project, in that it involved positive relationships with a number of outside organisations and a lot of goodwill.

Noel wanted the project to be meaningful and last long lasting.

Outside agencies, such as the Otago Harbour Board, the Railways and Stewart‘s transport were essential to the completion of the project.

The Otago Harbour board donated a lot of timber from the wharf at Port Chalmers, that they were rebuilding, and the timber was utilised on the track.

The Railways department donated 600 railway sleepers, and also a considerable amount of old railway track that was to be utilised on the track.

Stewart Transport had a link to the school they transported the materials from Dunedin to the site in Tautuku.

The railway line was used to construct two bridges on the walk to McLean Falls. This involved teams of boys physically carrying the materials from the road to the required spot on the track. The work was done with military precision – about 20 to 30 boys were needed to lift one length of track. Strops were used to lift the lengths of railway iron up and march into the bush with it – dropping the iron was not an option!!

In 1995 the Cave Creek tragedy occurred on the West Coast, when a DOC platform collapsed and 14 young people were killed.

This led to the Department of Conservation reviewing all of its it’s projects – including the Mclean Falls Track.

This led to the redesign of part of the track that involved scaling a cliff face.

The partly completed structure had to be removed and a platform blasted out of the cliff face, using dynamite.

The track is about 12 to 13 km in length and provides spectacular views of the McLean falls.

So successful has the track been, that a restaurant and chalet business has been set up to cater for walkers on the track.

Current staff members and old boys, Simon Cushen and Wayne McMillan worked on the track.
I would hazard a bet and suggest that Wayne was a lot more use in lugging railway sleepers up the track than Simon!!

The late Arthur White assisted in building the first bridge on the track, and Doug Clark was heavily involved in the building of the second bridge.

Arthur and Doug were heavily involved with students who could best be described as “rough diamonds”. Their involvement in, and the commitment of the pupils, played a pivotal role in the completion of the track.

The bridges were so well constructed that not too long after they were completed, there was a severe flood on the river.

The floodwaters overwhelmed the bridges, but they remained intact and undamaged by the flood.

Such was the power of the flood. A length of railway line that had not been used, was picked up and carried downstream by the floodwaters – where it remains to this day.

The track was officially opened in 1999. Noel Johnston and Juno Hayes, (the mayor of Balclutha at the time) were in the official party and a plaque was installed in recognition of the contribution made by the Kings staff and pupils involved in the project. Interestingly enough, the plaque was subsequently vandalised and turfed into the river. Old boy, Peter McGruther, who is with the Department of Conversation managed to recover the plaque from the river, and re-established it in pride of place.

Is this Grant Koedyk striding out in fashionable 1990’s walk shorts on the day of the opening?

So, to all you Kingsmen and staff who worked on the track, I hope you look back on your efforts with a sense of achievement – feel free to upload any comments/photos you may have to the website/facebook page.

Chris George
20/03/2023