Gunns Bush
Name |
Gunns Bush |
Location |
Waimate |
Co-ordinates |
1439273 5052273 |
Alternative co-ordinates |
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Configuration |
Linear/Loop |
Distance |
2 km |
Status |
On-leash |
Grade |
Easy |
Access |
Take Waimate Hunter Road north from Waimate, then turn onto Upper Hook Road; continue on Gunns Bush Road; track starts at road end. |
Description |
A pleasant bush and easy walk featuring native fuchsia trees (kotukutuku) and grassy glades, and with a short loop at the far end. |
Connecting tracks |
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Further information |
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Gunns Bush, like its near neighbour Kelcey's Bush, is a gem of a walk that seems not to be well known, and is all the better for that. A few kilometres from Waimate, which itself is an unfashionable but really rather charming town, it gives a glimpse of the natural bush that must once have been extensive on the hilllands of this part of Otago. Beautiful hardwood forests with a mix of rimu and fuscia and matai and totara and kahikatea and other species I couldn't name. It's soft and mossy underfoot, and mosses and lichen drip from the trees and make curtains in the undergrowth. There are grassy glades and the occasional picnic bench. The light is soft, almost liquid. Now and then you walk by the stream, or cross a small creek. If you keep close to the stream on the way out, after about 1.5 km the path veers left and upwards and provides a good loop, eventually dropping back down to the outward path about half-way from the entrance point.
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