“We didn’t know the track was even there, until we bought a section next to it!” In 2010 Lydia and Ian Smith built a house down a windy lane off Matheson Bay Road. Back then the Kohuroa Stream Track was a precarious dirt path. After the old Rodney council installed a couple sets of stairs below the waterfall, Ian and Lydia began thinking about broader possibilities.

The Smith’s were keenly aware of Kauri dieback, a soilborne pathogen called Phytophthora Agathidicida first detected in 1972 on Great Barrier Island. By the time it reached the Waitakere Ranges in 2006 huge swathes of Kauri were wiped out. As we stopped along the track to look at a majestic Kauri, the Smith’s explained that dieback appears initially as weeping lesions on the trunk followed by yellowing leaves and death. The disease has unfortunately spread up the North Island from Kawhia where Kauri forests begin. Luckily, the Kohuroa gully contains a regenerating Kauri grove at its northern end.

This was the motivation the Smith’s needed to approach Council in 2017 about funding for a new path. Kauri dieback was a hot issue, so the Council gave them $28,000 to start building a new trail. Given their spark and energy, the Smith’s easily recruited local volunteers to help. Ian said “We worked a couple of mornings and over weekends. Everybody chipped in, it was very social. If you were good with tools, you built the track, if you were good at hauling a wheelbarrow, like Peter Spence, you did that, others carried wood. The ITM in Matakana were great and gave or discounted the materials.”

They were fortunate to have the time and energy of Warkworth engineer Roger Williams to lead the group and develop the design to acquire further funding. Again, the Council delivered. Ian said, “We built the entire track for around $20K.” Lydia compared that to the “immense cost” council recently spent to improve the Kauri end of the track (Leigh Road to the waterfall), using a helicopter to airlift materials back and forth from Matheson Bay. Her neighbour said it sounded like a war zone! Lydia pleaded with council to recycle existing materials and use volunteers to bring in supplies, but this fell on deaf ears. Council did not want to risk dieback spread. The results, however, speak for themselves. The track is gorgeous, safe and walkable even in the rain.

The Smith’s share a deep respect for our natural world. Still curious after years of study, Lydia has degrees in botany and zoology, Ian a degree in geology. Their years in academia honed a spirit of curiosity that has driven a lifetime of learning. “My treat is walking up and down the track with Maureen Young (Warkworth based botanist). She tells great stories about plants.” As Lydia and I looked over the side of the new track she said another friend was surprised to see an abundance of young Kauri on the forest floor and asked if they had been planted. Lydia was tickled by this, both were just thrilled to see the new growth. The Kauri here are disease free, and the Smith’s keep a close eye on their health, walking the track regularly.

The track is finished, but their work remains on-going. A pile of native tree signs sat on their front porch, Lydia explaining “our next task is to get the signage back in the ground”. Then there’s the weeding, although most of the track is remarkably weed-free. Plus, the native planting in Matheson Bay Domain led by David Edwards. Retirement has meant that Lydia could “resurrect my studies in botany”. Botany and zoology were male dominated fields she struggled to break into. Shaking her head with a light-hearted laugh she added, “so I became a librarian, and a communications lecturer at AUT, something I was never trained to do!”

The Smith’s may be weekenders, but they pack in more local volunteer work than most. Lydia also volunteers at the Leigh Library and they both are on the weekend gate locking roster. When they’re not volunteering, they spend time with two of their beloved grandchildren in Auckland. Thanks to their vision, and support from Matheson Bay volunteers, visitors and locals alike enjoy strolling through the bush, listening to the Tui’s and the rush of the waterfalls. The Kohuroa Stream Track is now a long-term community asset. A treasure to be enjoyed by all.

This story was reposted with permission from Leigh Rag - [email protected]