#46 of 100 trips for 100 years - Racemans - Coal Creek - Steve Amies Track 9 April 2023

There was some initial hesitation from the six people when faced with the prospect of getting wet feet within the first five minutes of starting the day trip but not wanting to be left behind, all skipped across the watery ford in varying degrees of gracefulness. We took the turn off  on the right that brought us to a swing bridge over the Silver Stream before following the stream. After the first kilometre or so, we climbed a rise to reach the water race and the Racemans track.  The Racemans track follows the Silver Stream Water Race which was built around 1877 and consisted of nearly 30 kilometres  of open water races, sluices, tunnels, and weirs which bought water to the growing city of Dunedin.  The water race was in use for nearly 100 years when it was abandoned in the 1960's as it became too hard to maintain. The Racemans track follows the easy gradient of the water race, weaving in and out around the side of the steep sided Silver Stream catchment.  After an hour and half of easy walking, a mutual decision saw us stopping in a sunny spot on the track for a snack break.

Feeling replenished we continued on for another kilometre to the top weir where we paused to watch the water flowing over the weir and marvel at the clearness of the water in the stream below the weir.  The weir is the start of the water race and it's quite sobering to think about the amount of work that had gone into creating the weir and the water race as well as the maintenance of it. Today there is still plenty to see of the now overgrown water race and although there are trees and tree ferns growing in water race as well as parts of it that have subsided it is worth a visit.

From the weir we retraced our steps for 10 minutes to the North Coal Creek track which steeply climbs 400m up the eastern side of the Silver Stream catchment.  The track is easy to follow with orange markers at regular intervals and plenty of handily placed trees to aid with the rapid gain in height. The track passes through native podocarp forest with plenty of clambering up and over tree roots before a rocky section with the terrain changing to large moss covered boulders to clamber up.  Taking our time to rest often we were amazed at the variety of greens in the forest, particularly when the sun shines through the forest canopy highlighting the greens from lime to almost black. 

As we gained the ridge, we became aware of the wind in the trees overhead and the drop in temperature. There were glimpses of  dark forbidding clouds looming over the Silver Peaks making us pleased to be in the relative safety of the bush.  As we neared the top of the hill, there are a couple of good places to stop giving good views of the Silver Peaks and the Silver Stream catchment however the gale force winds kept us moving upwards.

At the highest part of the track is Trig Q nestled in a sheltered part of the bush and it seemed the perfect place to stop.  We each found a comfortable spot out of the wind and settled down to lunch and sharing of  chocolate Easter eggs. Once we had our fill of food, there was just enough time for a team photo before beginning to head down the Steve Aimies track.

The Steve Aimes track is well defined and with very little undergrowth is easy to follow.  If we had thought the climb up North Coal Creek track was steep, the descent down the Steve Aimes track was just as sheer.  The track follows a distinct ridge and descends steadily dropping 200m over 2km before the gradient abruptly changes, dropping the final 200m in less than 1km.  We were grateful that the ground underfoot was dry as it could have been treacherous if a little muddy.

Eventually we all reached the relative flat of the Racemans track in one piece.  After regrouping and a quick drink we started on the final 1.5km back along the Racemans track.  By now we noticed that the sky was clearing and wind had dropped.  The crossing of the ford at the start of the track was straightforward and we were back at the cars 5 hours and 14.2km after starting.