Charming Creek
Charming Creek walkway lives up to its name. It is also interesting, a little bit (but not too much) challenging, and very rewarding. The track is of a good standard - well-formed but not over-emgineered. The scenery is varied, with a long gradually rising section through the lower gorge, and an ambling level track beside the water race. There's fascinating history to explore, including the water race itself, old mining equipment, spoil tips, railway lines, tunnels, sawmills and a small suspension bridge. There's also a waterfall and, if you're lucky, in the steepest sections of the gorge, you might catch sight of the rare and protected Celmisia morganii - a daisy-like plant that flowers in December and January and is known only from this locality.
The walk is accessible from either end: at Ngakawau in the south, or near Seddonville in the north. Starting from the southern end has benefits, because the main mining remains are at the far end, so are a motive to keep going, and you get the long uphill climb over at the start. Walked in that direction, there is an easy 30 minute stroll along a disused railway siding that once carried timber and coal down to the main rail-line. After that, the track enters a gorge, which climbs steadily up the valley. Watch out here for the wooden rail in the centre of the railway track; this was used as braking mechanism to control the heavily laden trains on the steep descent. Near the top, a suspension bridge crosses the stream and offers spectacular views of the gorge, and glimpses of the Mangatini Falls. As you follow the track further, better views of the falls open up.
A short tunnel then takes you onto a level bench, known as The Verandah, and gives more views, while the river rages below you. From then on, the walking is easy. You amble along the river flats between a mix of forest and scrub and grassland, until you reach the site of Watson’s Mill, where there are old steam boilers rusting in the undergrowth. Next is another suspension bridge, and beyond that the sulphurous smell from the ‘Stink Hole’, where seepage from a prospecting drill hole stains the rock. The track stays level, passing across cut-over farmland, until you reach Mumm's Mill - the site of an old sawmill, where there are remains of the steam engine, trolleys and a steam log hauler. A few hundred metres further and you reach the Charming Creek mine. Here there's a large fan that was originally used to aerate the mine, remains of a bathhouse, old coal bins, areas of spoil stained by the various minerals that are leaching from the waste, and the sealed-off entrances to the mine. It's then a short walk to the Seddonville car park - or a longer but still enjoyable one one back the way you came.
The walk is accessible from either end: at Ngakawau in the south, or near Seddonville in the north. Starting from the southern end has benefits, because the main mining remains are at the far end, so are a motive to keep going, and you get the long uphill climb over at the start. Walked in that direction, there is an easy 30 minute stroll along a disused railway siding that once carried timber and coal down to the main rail-line. After that, the track enters a gorge, which climbs steadily up the valley. Watch out here for the wooden rail in the centre of the railway track; this was used as braking mechanism to control the heavily laden trains on the steep descent. Near the top, a suspension bridge crosses the stream and offers spectacular views of the gorge, and glimpses of the Mangatini Falls. As you follow the track further, better views of the falls open up.
A short tunnel then takes you onto a level bench, known as The Verandah, and gives more views, while the river rages below you. From then on, the walking is easy. You amble along the river flats between a mix of forest and scrub and grassland, until you reach the site of Watson’s Mill, where there are old steam boilers rusting in the undergrowth. Next is another suspension bridge, and beyond that the sulphurous smell from the ‘Stink Hole’, where seepage from a prospecting drill hole stains the rock. The track stays level, passing across cut-over farmland, until you reach Mumm's Mill - the site of an old sawmill, where there are remains of the steam engine, trolleys and a steam log hauler. A few hundred metres further and you reach the Charming Creek mine. Here there's a large fan that was originally used to aerate the mine, remains of a bathhouse, old coal bins, areas of spoil stained by the various minerals that are leaching from the waste, and the sealed-off entrances to the mine. It's then a short walk to the Seddonville car park - or a longer but still enjoyable one one back the way you came.
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