Puketawa track: An oasis for native forest and birds built by a pair of neighbours

Michélé O’Sullivan and Julie Hartley venture up the Puketawa & Slip Tracks between Ohakune and Raetihi. Photo / Bevan Conley

Nestled between the two Ruapehu towns of Ohakune and Raetihi, the winding Puketawa track leads walkers through native bush filled with the songs of tūī and riroriro.

It’s a labour of love from two female neighbours who built the trail together.

Michélé O’Sullivan bought the block of bush from a farmer in 1992.

“He’d been given a grant by the government to clear native bush from the section to turn into farmland.

“He had started doing that but felt really bad about it, and he decided he didn’t want to because he loved the bush too much.”

At the time no one understood why O’Sullivan would buy land that couldn’t be used for farming, she said.

“Everybody thought I was crazy, we were called ‘greenies’.

“No one understood why I was buying something I couldn’t make money from.”

After moving on to the section, she thought the bird population seemed low in the bush.

She fenced off the land and started to lay traps for rats, mice, stoats and wild cats.

Julie Hartley (left) has an app on her phone that allows her to find the 162 traps scattered through the bush. Photo / Bevan Conley

“I went on a hunting course and learnt from a Department of Conservation worker how to properly set traps, and how they would benefit the bush.”

She told her neighbour Julie Hartley she wanted to hire a track builder to make it easier to walk and check her trap lines.

“Well, Michélé, let’s just do it ourselves,” Hartley said.

“Michélé didn’t believe we could do it, so she made us start on the very hardest spot of the whole track to see if we were up to it.”

Together, in 2014, the pair taught themselves how to clear the pathway by cutting back trees using loppers and Hartley’s husband’s chainsaw.

They built stairs by digging out the dirt, placing face plates against the stairs, and using a sledgehammer to pound pegs through the wood into the soil.

Bella, who is trained to avoid kiwi, looks down on the steps built by Michélé and Julie. Photo / Bevan Conley

The route they followed to create the track was where deer and pigs had cleared a path through the forest.

“We did one morning a week for seven years.”

Their efforts were supported by other neighbours, volunteers and Helpex workers who stayed on-site to help with carrying equipment.

In 2015, a walkable version of the Puketawa Track was opened to the public, while further work continued.

O’Sullivan said that, after all the work that had been put into the track, she felt “buggered”.

“I’m always amazed at what we’ve done. This track goes 300 metres up, it’s an incredible physical feat.”

In 2019, she secured $15,000 of funding from Horizons Regional Council’s biodiversity fund to buy 200 more traps and trail cameras.

Currently, there are 162 traps in the forest area.

The live catch traps are checked every 24 hours by O’Sullivan, and the instant kill traps are cleared once a week.

She also paid for two botanists to come up for four days from the Botanical Society in Wellington, who documented all the trees in the bush. “They went around day and night with magnifying glasses, and categorised every fern and plant.”

Whanganui ecologist Peter Frost did bird counts of the species in the forest.

“We have kiwi, kingfisher, fantail, native falcons, native bats and bellbirds.

“There are massive flocks of wood pigeon in September and October, up to 50 and 60, and they fly down and it’s like a humming cloud.

“The falcons train their young in the sky, the parent falcon will fly up with a rat and throw it to the young who will grab it in mid-air and, if it misses, the parent will grab the rat before it hits the ground.”

The kiwi population has multiplied from one to four pairs since O’Sullivan’s arrival.

Hartley said she wanted people who walked the track to discover enjoyment in the bush environment.

“Forest-bathing and those phytoncides that the trees release and get into your brain make you feel good.

“When you visit the bush in spring, the ground is covered in flower petals and it smells divine, and you can’t really explain that feeling to people.”

Recently, a school visited the track, and O’Sullivan said she would like to build a covered lunch spot for the students to come when it was raining.

“I’d like to see more children come to the track, because if you can instil some passion in young people they will prevent the loss of more of what we’ve got.

“It’s so expensive for families to get out and enjoy the bush because it costs to stay in huts, but it’s good to have somewhere that’s easily accessible and free.”

In July 2023, the Department of Conservation increased its standard and serviced hut fees, while Great Walk hut fees are up to $78 a night for New Zealand residents.

O’Sullivan hopes the Puketawa track that she and Hartley have created will serve as an accessible way for the local community to experience wildlife and be in nature.

Visitors can access the Puketawa track by 386 Pakihi Rd, Ohakune, where a sign will direct walkers to call O’Sullivan before entering.

Donations to support the conservation efforts and ongoing maintenance of the track can be made on-site using the collection box at the gate.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.