19/02/2025. Moores Bush & Sullivan Dam. Grade 2.5. Hikers. Leaders: Pam Clough, Jay Devlin.
Moores Bush Reserve. Hikers left PJ Park and travelled over Three Mile Hill, Wakari Road, Tanner Road, Malvern Street, Leith valley Road to end at Thompson Road to the beginning of the Moores Bush Reserve. It was a lovely day and there were 22 hikers.
Moores Bush was purchased by Percy and Ellie Moore in 1945 as a Dairy farm but they began to restore the open farmland to its natural state by planting native trees such as Miro, Rimu, Horopito and Matai to name a few. After Percy died in 1974, Moores Bush was bequeathed to the Dunedin Branch of the Forest and Bird Dunedin.
The track was rather narrow with quite a few obstacles to negotiate along the way, where the tail end charlie in slippery conditions ended upside down and round the wrong way. No harm done except for muddy shoes. The bush was very dense.
We all had to cross a small creek without incident, this then took us back on to Leith Valley Road and on to the overbridge over the Northern Motorway where we arrived at Sullivans Dam.
We then walked around the Dam which took about 30 minutes. We stopped for lunch just as it began to rain but not enough to dampen spirits.
After lunch we made our way back to the cars in Thompson Road. Coffee was at Sunnyvale.
Leaders for the day were Pam Clough and Jay Devlin
Link to background information and earlier tramps and hikes in the same area.