Orongorongo

Club

 Code of conduct

Edited by

Marty Green and Bruce Popplewell

Dedicated to all the personalities and characters of the Valley who are no longer with us

Published by

The Orongorongo Club Inc

December 2001

Contents

Presidents message                                                page   4

The Orongorongo club                                              page   5

History of the valley                                                   page   10

Code of Conduct                                                       page   18

Vehicle access Conditions                                      page   22

Club Committee 2000-2001                                    page   26

Useful contacts                                                          page   27

President’s message

The Club’s mission is to foster the preservation of the natural and historical characteristics of the Orongorongo Valley and to encourage the maximum use of the valley’s unique position as a semi-wilderness area within easy reach of Wellington.

To this end your committee has been aware of the need for a code of conduct to be put in place for members of the Orongorongo club. The Club is fundamentally a family oriented association, and your committee, together with the Department of Conservation, has set guidelines which will help preserve the area and make it a pleasant experience for all visitors.

Trevor Park

President.

The Orongorongo Club

The Club was formed in 1978 by a number of regular users of the Orongorongo Valley who shared a common interest in the preservation of the area’s unique natural and historical characteristics and wanted to encourage and promote the continued usage of this unique resource for future generations.

The Club has grown to include a membership in excess of 250, covering a diverse range of user groups and backgrounds. Family membership is predominant within the Club and members include casual visitors to the valley, private bach owners, bach users, hunters, supporters of the Club’s objectives and former users of the area. Membership includes many people resident within and outside of the Wellington area and also includes some ex-patriots living outside New Zealand.

The Club is keen to promote family usage of the unique Orongorongo Valley area and encourages multiple usage by the diverse range of people and user groups that visit and frequent the valley and young people in particular. The Club supports and promotes multiple usage of the network of privately owned baches which provide for a wide range of opportunities for users of the valley.

The Club is active in and participates in a wide range of Activities

The Club is a strong advocate of conservation and preservation of the unique nature of the Orongorongo Valley and its environs, and particularly supports the continued presence of baches and their multiple usage in the area. The Club continues to campaign for bach licences to become transferable to allow the wider community to own baches in the area.

The Club negotiates with the Orongorongo station and the Department of Conservation for regular access to the valley by vehicle, for the servicing and maintaining of baches and also obtains special vehicle permits to transport elderly and disabled club members and members of the public into the valley.  The Club advocates long term continued access for vehicles set at 12 times per year and believes restrictions should be set at this level. This would achieve the least impact and the best balance amongst the valley’s multiple users and user groups.

The Club organises an annual road maintenance weekend to repair and upgrade the 4WD access road into the valley and the tracks through the river flats in the mid valley. This work includes clearing and/or installing culverts and drainage channels, filling potholes and re-metalling the road surface, trimming and clearing overgrown vegetation and removal of rubbish from within the valley. The club organises machinery, excavators, vehicles and trailers to undertake this work. Members usually contribute between 500 and 600 person hours of work during these weekends, and many family groups and non-vehicle users are regularly involved in assisting the club. A BBQ is usually held on the riverbed following the completion of the work.

The Club has been negotiating with the Department of Conservation for many years and has put forward a number of proposals for the Club and its resources to undertake a more active role in servicing and maintenance work within the Orongorongo Valley. The Club currently assists some tramping clubs with servicing their huts in the area and believes it could make a significant contribution towards servicing of DoC hire cabins and other facilities in the area. As the Club makes a major contribution towards the upkeep and maintenance of the 4WD access road into the valley, we believe that the Club’s large resources could be further deployed in maintaining and repairing the valley’s network of walking tracks to bring them back up to their former standard. The Club believes its resources could extend as far as re-metalling work on the main walking tracks. Negotiations are continuing with the Department of Conservation to reach a workable arrangement.

The Club supports and assists the Rimutaka Forest Park Trust with the operation of the Catchpool carpark vehicle security caravan during weekends and holiday periods. Members stay overnight in the surveillance caravan and monitor activity in the carpark area to assist with vehicle security during the hours of darkness. The caravan is linked by cellphone to DoC and the Police.

The Club is active in Search and Rescue and regularly provides personnel to NZ Land SAR and the Police for SAR operations. Club members are deployed in a variety of situations and roles throughout the Wellington area including urban searches and on some occasions are used to support other districts.

The Club organises a number of activities in the valley and encourages other park users to attend and participate.

·      The New Year’s Eve BBQ at Big Bend and the annual bush golf match playing for the Dawn LaHood Memorial Cup. There are spot prizes and a $1,000,000 (dud) cheque to be won.  A bonfire is usually held on the riverbed  (subject to fire risk and fireban status).

·      The annual Kids’ Easter Moa Hunt is held in the valley every Easter for children up to 16 years of age; all adults are encouraged to join in and help. Categories competed for include, the most possums, the heaviest possum, the longest eel, the longest rat, the best effort, the most unusual and the big game category. A fire-lighting and billy-boiling competition is also held following the competition weigh-in. Trophies and prizes are awarded for all categories and also numerous spot prizes are won. All competitors receive certificates of participation, and for places in each category.

Entry to the Kids’ Easter Moa Hunt is open to the public and the Club is keen to encourage and promote maximum participation. The competition has been very successful and well supported over the past four years. The Department of Conservation and a number of businesses and organizations assist with sponsorship and the donation of prizes.

·      The Club organises a number of hangis and BBQs during the year, usually on long weekends during the summer. Other park users in the valley are invited and encouraged to participate and join in.

Club members play a valuable role within the park, providing assistance to other park users when necessary and in particular providing assistance and shelter to persons who are distressed or injured.

History of the valley

The history of the Orongorongo Valley is not unlike many other hide-away and remote bush areas from New Zealand’s past. Maori tribes once occupied and fought over remote back country, the colonists arrived over 150 years ago and established towns and cities beside natural harbours and started to clear inland all accessible terrain to harvest trees for production and to establish land for farming. Many ranges such as the Rimutakas were too inhospitable for clearing and development, and the native bush was allowed to remain largely in its natural state to this day.

Mountain ranges such as the Rimutakas were extensively visited by pioneers and colonialists, initially for exploration and to erect trig stations to map New Zealand and to survey prospective routes for roading and railways.

Early development in the Rimutakas was the construction of the Rimutaka hill road from Kaitoke to Featherston in the 1850s. The Rimutaka Incline railway line was opened in 1878 following almost 8 years of construction including the digging of the 622m long summit tunnel.

Also during the late 1870s the Wellington City Council started construction of the first water intake dam in the Wainuiomata River; this was superseded by the Morton Dam commissioned in 1911.

By the 1920s increased demand for water supply led the WCC to develop the upper Orongorongo River as a water catchment area. A 22km road was constructed up the Orongorongo River from the mouth to the Huia streams where the weir intakes are now located. The road was used by horse and Dray to transport materials to the site. A shorter packhorse route was also cut over from the Wainuiomata River and down Telephone Creek to the weirs.

At the same time construction of the pipeline tunnel was undertaken linking the Orongorongo weirs to the Wainuiomata Valley. The pipeline carried water through to the now decommissioned Karori Reservoir in Wellington. The 3.25km tunnel was dug from both ends and took 2.5 years to meet in the centre. Despite being penetrated in 1924, the tunnel work was not completed until 1926. The water intake was officially commissioned in December 1926.

 Even today traces of the old dray road can be located, cut into the hillside above the river along the last couple of kilometres leading up to the weirs. The odd discarded and broken bottle are evidence of the bygone era.

The earliest walking tracks into the Orongorongos were the blazed routes over Mt McKerrow and the Whakanui ridge. The Five-mile Track was cut in the early 1880s by J.D.Climie while surveying the area, although the track never extended as far as the river and was not completed until re-cut by H.Girdlestone in 1914. Until this time the most popular route into the valley was the Mt Baker track from the Catchpool Valley and along the Cattle Ridge, which was then referred to as Brown’s Track.

The first huts started to appear in the Orongorongo Valley following Girdlestone’s completion of the Five-Mile Track, the most well known being Baine-iti tent camp which was situated at the mouth of Matthew’s Stream. These early huts were usually manuka framed and clad in such things as canvas, tarred paper and flattened out kerosene tins, all the materials being carried through the Five-Mile Track.

In 1927 the WCC transferred administration of the Orongorongo and Wainuiomata catchments to its newly created Water Board. This led to the formal approval of the huts in the valley and on the 21^st of August 1930, the first hut licences were issued.

The area had become a very popular retreat during the 1920s and 1930s. Many bush huts were erected in the Orongorongo and Catchpool Valleys. All were built with a pioneering spirit as all building materials somehow had to be carried the long distance into the bush.

During the early 1930s a shop named Shanty-town Store was operated with WCC approval on top of Jacobs Ladder at the end of the Five-Mile Track until its closure in 1935.

The war years created a recession in the valley with duty calling to defend our nation overseas. A number of huts suffered through lack of use during this absence and there were many who were to never to return to the valley and to their huts.

 The New Zealand Army Bush Guides were active throughout the valley during this time, monitoring and defending Wellington’s vulnerable water supply from attack. They kept all the tracks maintained, and were responsible for locating and flushing out two Army Sergeants who had deserted before being posted overseas and had discreetly built themselves a small bush hut off the side of the Orongorongo River to sit out the rest of the war. This hut, although now rebuilt a short distance from the original site, has ever since been known as Deserter’s Whare.

A new era was born after the war; the men had returned, enthusiasm had returned and with it the desire to repair and rebuild the tracks and huts of the valley. The post-war era brought with it surplus 4x4 and 6x4 army trucks, which were hired to transport new building materials up the Orongorongo riverbed to upgrade and replace huts. Apart from the odd dray this was the first transport brought up the river for this purpose. The standard of huts improved with the availability of vehicular transport, dirt floors were giving way to timber or concrete, manuka framing was giving way to milled framing, and cladding and fittings were improving.

The hiring of a 4x4 truck would often be a communal event between a number of hut users, particularly at times such as Christmas periods, when the truck would stop off and deliver supplies to huts all the way up the river before making the return journey back to civilisation.

Following a number of drownings during the early 1950s the WCC was approached for permission to erect a phone line to link huts on both sides of the Orongorongo River in the event of an emergency. The request was received by the WCC Engineers Department and recommendations were made to the City Engineer and to the Council Committee who both formally approved the phone line erection. During the 50-year history of the line many huts, some of which no longer exist,  have been connected and disconnected. In its prime the line ran from Matthews Stream to south of Greens Stream and for many years was connected to the Opossum Research Station where radio communication was available. The span that linked both sides of the Orongorongo River was removed by the Department of Conservation during the early 1990s leaving only isolated pockets of huts still connected today.

The river buggies followed a few years behind the 4x4 trucks, the most popular usually being the Ford Model-A. The buggies were typically constructed from old cars with the bodies removed and a large wooden tray fitted to the back for maximum load capacity. Bush ingenuity created many modifications to these vehicles such as large and dual wheels, twin inline gearboxes for lower gearing, and eventually to homemade chassis for higher ground clearance. Much more independence and flexibility was achieved by owning a river buggy, materials and supplies could be transported as they were required and the high overall cost of hiring a 4x4 truck could be avoided. Many of the baches in the valley today owe their existence to transportation by the Orongorongo River Buggies.

A controversial 4WD road was constructed along the true left side of the Orongorongo River by the DSIR in 1968, to provide access to their Opossum Research Station at Greens Stream. Research has been undertaken in the valley since 1946, initially by the Department of Internal Affairs working from McGregors hut in Greens Stream, until the first Opossum Research Station was built in 1952, responsibility was transferred to the NZFS in 1956, then to the DSIR in 1965 and subsequently to Landcare in 1992.

The advent of the DSIR road brought an increase of interest and vehicular traffic into the valley, more reliable 4x4 vehicles started to supersede the old river buggies and the 4x4-truck era had ended. A number of new baches were built during this period and a number of old ones were re-built or upgraded. Recommendations were made to the Water Board and it was considered that the maximum number of baches the valley could sustain without detracting from the character of the area would be 100. At its peak around 70 baches existed with still around 60 in existence today. The bach of today is usually of sound construction; many have hot water, showers, flush toilets, gas cooking and refrigeration.

During both the WCC and the Water Board administrations many bach owners were warranted as Honorary Rangers. This system worked very effectively within the valley and unfortunately has not been continued by the Department of Conservation.

The Water Board relinquished administration of the Orongorongo Valley to the NZFS in 1980 and subsequently to the Department of Conservation in 1987. This period has probably seen the greatest amount of change in the area. Although NZFS policy at that time did not support the existence of private baches on crown land, new licences were offered to bach owners recognising that all the baches were legally established and had been currently licensed by the former Water Board. Owners were offered a new 20-year licence contract expiring in 2000. The Department of Conservation has since issued 60-year licences expiring in 2050. During the NZFS and DoC administration, extensive negotiations have been undertaken in respect of baches for suitable licence conditions.

The Water Board preferred only one owners name and contact address to be listed on the bach licences, rather than a complete list of all owners, to ease their administration. This has always caused great deal of difficulty for bach owners to obtain licences issued with the correct names entered onto them. Although the Department of Conservation has now added Spouses of owners to bach licences, it is acknowledged that many part owners and family members are still not listed.

Access by vehicle into the valley was closed off for some time but has since has been reopened on a restricted basis following negotiations with the Department of Conservation who recognised the ongoing need for servicing and maintaining of baches. Recent years have also seen the awareness of the needs of disabled persons, and Vehicle Access permits can be applied for and granted for this purpose.

The arrival of the NZFS administration brought the first specific management plan of the area into effect. A number of policies were introduced into the valley and also some new development. The long serving Five-Mile Track gave way to the benched Orongorongo Track in 1982, this was followed by the new Big Bend wet weather track along the true right of the valley linking the Orongorongo Track to the Whakanui Track. The mid 1980s also saw the transfer of some private baches to the NZFS to be available for hire to the public wanting to experience and enjoy the unique valley.

The use of the Orongorongo Valley over the past 54 years as a Government research area has been very rewarding for further understanding of ecology and conservation, but has taken its toll on the fauna and flora of the valley. The lack of effective pest and predator management is evident in the deterioration of the forest and the depletion of the valleys native bird life. Birds were once prolific in the area, and the much prized huia was last sighted in the Catchpool valley in 1901.

Although the area holds a colourful history of pioneering habitation and public usage not unlike so much of yesteryear’s New Zealand, it is now unique in that the same pioneering spirit and habitation still exists within the valley today.

CODE OF CONDUCT

The following code of conduct was developed in conjunction with the Department of Conservation.  It sets out guidelines for appropriate conduct expected of club members within the Rimutaka State Forest Park.

Consideration and respect for other Park users

• Club members should respect the privacy and desires of other park users. The park provides the opportunity for a diverse range of activities and user groups and care must be given to encourage and respect this multiple usage.

• Club members should provide assistance to other Park users when necessary.  This may entail, for example, giving directions,  providing information or guidance,  and providing shelter and/or food for stranded or distressed persons.

• Club members should act in a safe manner at all times to ensure their own and other Park users safety. Common sense and safety are paramount and should always come first. Particular consideration should be given to river crossings, fire, vehicle use, and firewood cutting.

• All dangerous or potentially dangerous situations or damage,  such as vandalism,  fire,  damage to tracks or to structures should be reported to the appropriate person or authority.

• Firearms should only be taken into the Park with a current DoC hunting permit. All firearm use should be done safely and in accordance with permit conditions.

Conservation

• All rubbish should be removed from the Park (regardless of any current DoC policy). Club members should assist with cleaning up and removing rubbish dumped by other Park users.  DoC should be notified of rubbish being dumped within the Park.

• No living native vegetation should be cut, except for authorised cutting, i.e. authorised track work, trimming around baches (only with authorisation from licence holder and within licence conditions).

• Noxious and/or exotic vegetation where possible should be destroyed or removed from the park.  DoC should be notified of the location of any noxious and/or exotic vegetation.

• Any sightings of rare or endangered native wildlife or vegetation should be reported to DoC.

Vehicles

• Vehicles should only enter the Orongorongo valley with authorisation from DoC or other authority i.e. Police SAR,  Bush Fireforce etc.

• Vehicles entering the Orongorongo valley under the club’s Vehicle Access Permit must always comply with the club’s Vehicle access rules.  The club’s Vehicle Access Rules are determined by the club committee and copies of these rules are regularly distributed to all club members.

* Refer to Vehicle Access Conditions on page 22.

• Vehicles should be used with consideration for the safety and enjoyment of other park users.  Club members should use vehicles with discretion in regard to other park users and other activities undertaken by other park users.

Dogs

• All dogs taken into the park should be registered and displaying a current registration tag for identification.

• Dogs should be kept under control at all times and should not be permitted to cause any disturbance to other park users, vegetation or wildlife (with the exception of authorised hunting with dogs).

Fires

• Outdoor open fires should be of an appropriate size and should only be lit in a suitable location where there is no fire risk to the surrounding vegetation.

• DoC’s fire ban status should always be observed when put into effect.

• Only dead wood should be used for fuel collected either from within the forest floor or from the riverbed.

Private Baches

• Licence holders should ensure that users of private baches are aware of and comply with the bach licence conditions at all times.

• All bach users should respect other Park users at all times and comply with the spirit of this code of conduct.

The Club

• Club members whenever appropriate should promote the club to other park users.

• Club members should support the club and should comply with its constitution, its rules, and with the spirit of this Code of Conduct.

Vehicle Access conditions

4WD-vehicle access into the Orongorongo Valley is by permit only. Access through the lower valley is across the privately owned Orongorongo Station. The mid valley is administered by the Department of Conservation. The Club (henceforth refers to The Orongorongo Club Incorporated) negotiates with both the Orongorongo Station and DoC for regular vehicle access timetables and permits on behalf of all club members. The Department of Conservation (henceforth referred to as DoC) currently issues the Club 7 permits per year as provided for in the DoC “CMS” (Conservation Management Strategy) for the Wellington Conservancy. Other special permits are granted during the year for purposes such as Road/Track maintenance, disabled access etc as provided for by DoCs “Orongorongo Valley Vehicle access guidelines.”

Vehicle Access Rules

·      Only Individual or Family, financial club members, will be permitted on the Clubs, vehicle access list.

·      Vehicles must be booked with the Clubs Vehicle Coordinator (CVC) by the Tuesday before the access weekend.

·      No vehicles will be permitted on the Clubs vehicle access list, after the Tuesday cutoff.

·      Anyone on the Clubs permanent vehicle access list, should contact the CVC if they wish to cancel or if there is a change of vehicle details.

·      Cancellation of your booking is to be done as soon as possible prior to the access weekend.

·      Vehicles not booked on the vehicle access permit, will not be permitted to enter the valley.

·      An access fee of $20 per vehicle, payable to the Club, is required at the Orongorongo Station gate.

·      Failure to notify the CVC of a cancellation prior to an access weekend, will incur the $20 access fee.

Access in: Gate opening times are:

8:00 am to 9:00 am on the first day of the weekend, on standard time.

6:00 pm to 7:00 pm on the evening before the weekend starts, on daylight saving time.

Access out: Vehicles are checked off the vehicle list at            

            The “Rams Paddock” when exiting the valley.

At the Rams Paddock by 3:00 pm Std. Time (4:00 pm daylight saving) on the last day of the weekend. The DoC gate at Dicks creek will be locked at 3:30 pm Std. Time (4:30 pm daylight saving)

Drivers of overdue vehicles will need to make their own arrangements to have the DoC and Station gates opened to exit the valley. The CVC must be notified immediately once you have exited the valley.

The Club committee may cancel an access weekend and transfer the DoC permit to the following weekend if any of the following conditions occur:

1.      Prior to or at the start of the weekend, if weather conditions are too hazardous.

2.      If the river conditions are too hazardous, to cross the Orongorongo River at Greens stream.

3.      Through road slippage.

Ensure that the CVC has your contact phone number(s).

·        If the river level rises or floods during an access weekend

o       Safety must be the first priority

o       If the river level is hazardous, do not attempt to cross until the river drops to a safe level

o       When hazards exist group decisions should be made and vehicles should travel in-groups for support.

o       If overdue, drivers of vehicles must notify the CVC immediately once the valley has been exited, so the Police and DoC can be informed as necessary.

·        Vehicles must be driven considerately at all times. Avoid high use areas where other park users may be encountered, to minimise possible disturbance e.g. the Turere stream mouth.

·        A speed restriction of 20 kph is to be observed while driving on Station property.

·        All farm gates are to be shut behind you, unless the Club has specific instructions to the contrary from the Station management.

·        Dogs transported through the Orongorongo Station property must be either kept inside the vehicle, or securely tethered.

·        Vehicle access weekends are to transport supplies and maintenance materials to  baches, between baches and for the collection of firewood. Inconsiderate vehicle use, annoyance to other park users or failure to comply with The Clubs vehicle access conditions is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Any such behaviour would likely result in any person(s) responsible compromising their vehicle access through The Clubs access permit.

·        The Club reserves the right to decline any particular vehicle or driver from the Clubs access permit.

·        Conditions as determined by DoC apply.

The Orongorongo Club Inc

PO Box 38-330 Wellington Mail Centre

Committee 2001/2002

President                                          Trevor Park               

Secretary                                          Bruce Popplewell

Treasurer                                          Gavin Quigan            

Vehicle Coordinator                      Rex Benbrook                                              

Editor                                                 Peter Matterson

Committee                                        Bruce Calcinai

                                                                                    Steve Hobman

Marty Green              

Harvey Paterson

Norman Wright

Hon Auditor                                     Ian Pearson

Useful Contacts

The Orongorongo Club Inc                                 DoC “Safety Watch” number

www.orongo.50g.com                                               for reporting Hazards on the

PO-Box 38 330                                                         DoC estate 0800 999 005   (24hr)

Wellington mail centre                                             

Petone

                                                                                    Wainuiomata Police

DoC Wellington Conservancy                            3 Fitzherbert Road   

PO Box 5086                                                 Tel 564 0080

Wellington                                                                  Fax 564 2642

Tel 472 5821

Fax 499 0077                                                            Wellington Police

                                                                                    Cnr Victoria and Harris Streets

DoC Poneke Area Office                          Tel 381 2000

PO Box 5068

Wellington                                                                  Search and Rescue

Tel 472 5821                                                 Wellington Police

Fax 499 0077                                                            Tel 381 2000  or  111

                                                                                    * Overdue or injured

Catchpool Field Centre                                        persons should be reported to

Dave Lewis                                                                Wgtn police. DoC  are not

Private Bag 43902                                                   responsible for SAR and will

Coast Road Wainuiomata                                       only assist at the request of

Tel 564 1249                                                 the police.

Fax 564 6551

                                                                                    Club SAR Contacts

Catchpool Visitor Centre                                    

John Rush                                                                  Marty Green  

Tel 564 8551                                                 (H) 476 2043

Fax 564 7485                                                            (W) 025 276 3978

Orongorongo Station                                            Ann Hazlewood                                

All Orongorongo Station access                             (H) 06 308 9283

issues are handled by the clubs                              (W) 389 7155                                   

Vehicle Coordinator

Rex Benbrook                                                           Cindy Di Georgis     

Tel (H) 586 8126                                                       (H) 564 6585

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Vehicle Coordinator

Rex Benbrook                                                           Cindy Di Georgis     

Tel (H) 586 8126                                                       (H) 564 6585

  Home