Wildbore 8 (Opawe Road Junction) Traditional Cache

Opawe Road is the site of one of Charles Wildbore’s most iconic photographics, of men carting out railway sleepers (see Wildbore 8). It was part of a state forest reserve, established in 1886 as a “reserve for growth & preservation of timber and for river conservation purposes”. In particular, the forest was an important source of totara, used for railway sleepers. To find out more about the history of this area, see: https://envirohistorynz.com/2009/12/01/totara-reserve-from-exploitation-to-conservation/