This cache brings you to another little-known historical gem in the Ohakune area.
Ohakune started out as a sawmilling town. There were many mills near Ohakune in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, and several more in the wider area (see caches GC9MVCH GC95F1Z and GC95JC6 for information on some of these).
One of the larger mills was operated by Messrs Bennett and Punch, who had mills at many locations in the central North Island.
To provide a reliable source of logs for the mill, Bennett and Punch built a substantial tramway up the slopes of Mount Ruapehu, a portion of which was later followed to form the mountain road to the ski field.
The tramline needed to cross the Mangawhero Stream, and for this a substantial bridge was erected. This bridge still stands, providing a major relic to see, away from general public view. The bridge has three wooden spans, with concrete abutments and piers. One span has collapsed, the remaining sections hold true. The bridge was maintained over its service life, and the closest span includes a beam still round from the forest, probably a replacement in the bridges later life.
The cache owner has researched the history of this bridge, but dates of construction and decommissioning are elusive. It is likely this tramway was constructed late-ish in the life of the mill, possibly the 1920’s. The tramway up to the bridge and beyond was in service in 1950 when the mountain road was being planned, but no longer operating when construction started in 1953. The area you walk over to get there was farmed by the Punch family after logging, and the bridge continued to be used occasionally for stock movement. The farm ceased operation in 1959 when the Ohakune Borough designated the area for waterworks reserve.
What you see now has remained, slowly decaying for over 60 years, a testament to those who built this magnificent bridge. As a bonus the route to reach this cache will take you along the remnants of the significant cutting and embankment earthworks needed to raise the tramway line up to the high ground.
The Cache owner heard about this bridge from the local old folks, and saw it on aerial photos, but it took a fair bit of scrambling to actually stand next to it. We have therefore set up some intermediate waypoints to assist your trip. Note that the terrain rating of 3 is based on the distance to walk from the parking waypoint. It is not a difficult walk, and if you have a bike (or ebike) you save some steps so the rating would be less.
This description may help your travel:
1 - Drive up the mountain road, turn off left across the bridge and head past the DOC Mangawhero campsite through a gate on a gravel but easily driven road. Park at the parking waypoint. Do not attempt to go further unless you have a serious 4WD vehicle, and keep a good eye out for cyclists. Alternatively park at the Ohakune Junction, and ride the 2.5km uphill to here on your bike.
2 – Walk or ride 1.5km along the 4WD track, navigating to Trailhead T0 'Stream Crossing'. On your way turn right at a fork then shortly you wil arrive at the Tutara (Serpentine) Stream crossing (over a small weir that supplies Ohakune town water). You can push your bike across the stream crossing and up the bank, or leave it here – chaining it to the rail on the bridge is a good security option.
3 – You now have 500m to travel to the cache. Start out towards the next waypoint (Trailhead T1 'Cross the Cutting') across the old “Punches Farm” (you may be able to ride your bike, but I found the tussock grass bumps too hard to ride over) . When you get to the waypoint you will cross a shallow cutting, this is the route of the tramway from the bridge. Follow the bank of cutting (the North side is easiest), to Trailhead T2 'Enter the Cutting', where you enter the cutting, head towards the cache and find yourself on a high embankment heading to the bridge.
4 – After a few steps, exit the embankment to your right (South) down to the flat, and head for the cache – the bridge will reveal itself as you approach.
You are looking for a 1 litre Sistema box, covered with sticks and leaves – please cover it well when you leave.