Molesworth... Acheron Homestead And Doc Camp...

 

Well... Here I am... I've driven the Molesworth Road to the

southern boundary and the Acheron Campsite...

It's only a short distance further round the road to the

campsite access road...

I'm parked in the sun, settled in for however long

I decide to stay.

I walked back up the road to get an aerial overview, the DoC

rangers accommodation on the right. There is also a

water tap and hose there. both levels have toilets.

It wasn't far to walk through the long dry grass, avoiding 

the cows (photo taken looking back) to the 

Clarence River and bridge.

Another bridge with no sides!

The Clarence River looking east... I tried fishing up and

down both sides of the bridge... I lost some of my

Tasmanian Devils and no trout. Mostly the river is

very shallow after months of little rain...

To the confluence of the Acheron and Clarence Rivers. 

There is a shelter with information panels and a toilet there, 

camping allowed.

And looking west...

Toward the road to Hanmer... Looking at Mt Maukuratawhai 

(1610m) and Bush Gully

Acheron is a very historic place, like all of Molesworth.

I spent a day wandering around, just looking and feeling

and sitting in the sun and walked the short  Acheron

Loop Track which gives a view of the river

and surrounding valley.

Acheron Accommodation house as it looks today... In the early

1980's restoration work was carried out, largely through regional

historian Jim Gardner and cob expert David Studholme also

Lands and Survey, DoC,  Ministry of Works and a raft

of volunteers. The building today stands as a tribute to the

pioneers who built it, the stockmen and travellers who passed

through it and to the departmental staff and volunteers who

saved it from being just another plot of bare ground with a

poignant photo of what was once here.

 

 

Ned James...

The original cob Acheron Accommodation House with a tussock

thatched roof with beech rafters tied with flax. The cob mixture -

seven shovels of clay to one shovelful of manure, used as a

 binder, and three or four handfuls of tussock.

 It was an overnight stop for travellers and stockmen 

moving through the inland route between Nelson and 

Canterbury until 1932 when it closed.

Two shillings and sixpence (25cents) bought a bed, meal

and stabling for horses...

It had eight rooms and at an unknown date a privy

(long drop toilet) was added to the north end of the veranda.

Ned James was paid 100 pounds, it took him a year to build!

The old fireplace... These photos are taken from the

information panels inside the house today.

The old stables as they are today...

The rest of the photos are some of the history of Molesworth Station...

And the accommodation  houses in the area...

Molesworth Station... The Acheron Road... Part 2...

Onward... Leaving this view of Mt  Severn (2021m) behind, I

continued down the saddle and through Isolated Flat to the

junction of the Tarndale Track at...

Red Gate. Here the Severn River which has a significant catchment

starting on the Molesworth boundary, meets the Acheron River.

The smaller road to the left in this photo goes to the Red Gate Hut

and the Alma River and from there to the upper Wairau and

Tarndale where cattle spend summer calving.

Not far along the road the next reason long vehicles don't

do well on this road... A very sharp turn onto this bridge 

over the Severn River...

Although none of the Molesworth bridges had sides they did

have rigid poles on both sides at each end. It was sometimes

a bit tricky maneuvering between these. One of them clipped

my off side rear end and took off a tall vent pipe - small

damage and I wasn't aware of it happening at the time!

And I can't remember which bridge it was...

Carefully... Over I go. the bridge is not much wider than the bus!

The road follows the Acheron River... Incredibly beautiful...

This is Pudding Hill (1284m)

There is another walkway to the top... To do another day!

Another small bridge with weight restrictions, over the Guide River.

To the left of this photo is the confluence of the Acheron and

Guide Rivers... Important for stock movement between the Awatere

and Acheron Valleys leading up to Barfell Pass.

The only bit I could interpret was the 10 km/h...

No trouble there, the bridge was so narrow.

Continuing along the Acheron... Mt Costello (1659m) is

one of the higher peaks...

Looking towards Bullock Gully in the distance.

The road winds round the side of the hills... Next stop...

Pig Trough Suspension Bridge... One of three built by the

NZ Electricity Department in the early 1880's to provide

access to towers where the high-voltage direct current line

crossed the river away from the road. The other two bridges have

been washed away in floods. The unusual name comes from the

wild pigs often seen around a wet soak area near the head of the

gully named Pig Trough Gully...

There are information panels, a shelter and a toilet...

It's another 12km to Acheron Accommodation House

and the next DoC camp and Molesworth Station boundary.

On this map you can see the various original stations

and runs. Eventually all except Rainbow were incorporated

into Molesworth as we know it today.

By 1938 after all the various private owners of Molesworth had

given up for various reasons... Years of low prices, poor land

management and a lack of control of the rabbit problem - all

exacerbated by the extremes of the high-country climate -

the result was a ruined  Molesworth landscape.

The Crown and in particular the Commissioner of

Crown Lands in Blenheim was faced with the challenge

of saving the devastated farm. In 1942 the legendary Bill Chisholm

was appointed manager.. Huge priority was given to rabbit control,

and among other strategies the change was made to only farming cattle.

A herd of 1500 Angus-Hereford was introduced and it wasn't long

before steers were sold in Blenheim for 16.10 pounds. As time went on

the basis of the herds were Hereford and Aberdeen Angus, because

of their ability to forage, climb and weather out blizzard conditions.

Because of unsafe timbers on the bridge it is closed but this is

the view looking north up the Acheron.

It wasn't much further along the road...

And through these flats...

To the Clarence River...

And my destination for the night... The Molesworth Southern Boundary.

This photo is probably looking south at Mt Maukuratawhai (1610m)

In 1960 with just  20 years of Chisholm's management, what had been

a rabbit infested high-country run was  a well performing farm. In 1968

it had accumulated a surplus of 500,000 pounds and more than

9000 cattle. This legendary high-country station has continued

to go from success to success with the hard work and strategies

of the various managers. Today about 10,000 Angus and Angus/Hereford

Cross cattle are run, there are about 80 horses and 45 working dogs.