#8 of 100 trips for 100 years - Craiglowan Falls & McQuilkans Creek 12 November 2022

The steepest part of the trip was the first 15 minutes as we left the Bull Ring and headed up the Fire Break track. In the winter this familiar track can be muddy and slippery, however at this time of year it is hard and dry which makes for easy walking. Eight of us regrouped at the turn off to the Big Rock track and from here the track looks to have been recently cut as it winds it's way through the lush, native bush. Apart from the odd rock and pig rooting, the track is easy to follow and heads quite steeply down the hill to Big Rock which is exactly as the name suggests - a BIG rock. Back in the pre-1960's, Big Rock was popular for rock climbing with the OTMC. It was at Big Rock that we had some of the best views of the trip, looking over the Silverstream area, towards The Chalkies and Silver Peaks. Today Big Rock is surrounded by bush making it hard to guage the size of the rock and there certainly is no rock climbing here anymore.

After a short stop at Big Rock we found our way down, around the side of Big Rock before discovering that this was the end of the wide, recently cut track and from here we were following a faint trail down hill. Coming across the odd mud puddle was reassuring as it confirmed we were following the trail until about halfway down the hill we must have taken a wrong turning because there was no more trail and we were literally bush bashing our way down the hill, clambering over rocks, ducking under branches, getting tangled in vines and running into the odd patch of bush lawyer.

After nearly an hour of this enjoyment we emerged onto the gravel of the Flagstaff-Whare Flat Road, slightly scratched but still in good spirits. After a brief stop for a drink and snack we had an easy walk down the road to the forresty road, Sanatorium Road which is the site of the first sanatorium in New Zealand. Established in 1899 it accommodated up to 10 patients at a time suffering from consumption and other tubercular diseases. There is nothing to see here now so we continued along Sanatorium Road until the turnoff on the right down the hill to McQuilkans Creek. Again it's a steep descent but with plenty of trees to hold onto it didn't take long for us to reach the creek and our objective of finding the Craiglowan Falls. The rocks were slippery as we crossed the creek a couple of times but eventually we rounded the corner and were rewarded with a view of the not often seen Craiglowan Falls.

We enjoyed a rest and photo opportunity here before slipping and sliding our way along the creek, climbing around large rocks and generally trying to avoid falling in as the rocks were very slippery. There was the occassional wire across the creek to help keep us on our feet but over all I was glad of my walking pole to help keep me upright.

After about half an hour of this fun, the track turned off onto an easy four wheel drive track that resembled a grassy meadow in parts. We passed some beehives and arrived at a gate. It was a bit disconcerting to see the 'No Entry' sign prohibiting access to where we had just walked down. Oh well, there had been no sign at the other end of the track so we ignored the sign and climbed over the sty onto the Whare Flat Road.

Now the third part of our walk began as we walked along the Tunnels Track which followed the old Silverstream water race. At one time the water race supplied water to the growing town of Dunedin. It was quite a fast walk along the track for a couple of kilometres as the track follows the contour of hill before heading down hill to Silverstream. Just before the downhill section, the team called it time for a lunch stop and we enjoyed a half hour sitting and chatting while eating lunch. Spurred on by promises, from our leader Ash, that the car was only 15 minutes away we didn't linger too long over lunch and were heading down hill at a good pace. After crossing the Silversteam, we reached the cars in 12 minutes from our lunch stop. All in all a fun 8.5km walk in just over 4 hours.