The Lindsay tunnel in Waipukurau is a Central Hawke's Bay hidden gem.
Hawke's Bay Today reporters Rachel Wise and Shea Jefferson take a look and do some tidying up along the way.
A homemade 200 metre tunnel that was constructed through a Central Hawke's Bay hill. Who knew? Now this hidden gem is about to get some foot traffic. Reporter Shea Jefferson tries it before the crowds arrive.
Welcome to the bear hunt.
A journey inside the 150-year-old Lindsay Tunnel is thestuff of childhood story books:
You can't go over it, you can't go under it, and you can probably go around it easier than it is to go through it.
But half the fun is in the challenge: crouch, touch, pause, engage (emphasis on the crouch) and dip 200 metres into the underworld just out of Waipukurau.
To find the tunnel, riders and drivers need to make their way off State Highway 2 just north of Waipukurau onto Lindsay Rd and then Scenic Rd to Lindsay Bush Reserve. From there, a limestone path leads to the base of the hill where the tunnel is located.
The Lindsay Tunnel has been added to the Tukituki Trails - a series of pathways for walkers and bikers that bypass landmarks along the Tukituki River in the Central Hawke's Bay District.
The tunnel extends 200 metres in length, averages one metre in height and width and was built in the 1870s, over the course of about 20 years, by the Harding family.
It was initially part of a water race that spanned 10km. The tunnel's positioning meant that gravity could feed the Waipawa Mate stream through the limestone tunnel to the Harding 'Mount Vernon' Homestead.
A descendant of the original tunnel engineers, Richard Harding, said the diaries of his family members shared "how excited they were when they first had fresh water at Mount Vernon, as prior to the water race, the closest water would have been down at the Tukituki River".
The engineering legacy of Harding's great-great grandfather Rechab Harding and great-grandfather John Harding remains dug deep into Waipukurau's hillside and in mint exploring condition, despite the passage of some 150 years.
Reporters Rachel Wise and Shea Jefferson discover modern tunnel art in Waipukurau. Photo / Paul Taylor
"Once upon a time police wanted to have it filled in. I'm chuffed to see it still being used in one form or another. It's a real work of art – a historic monument and an adventure," Harding said.
The Hawke's Bay Today explored the monument this week, which involved a brief scramble up a muddy verge to a narrow goat track that leads to the tunnel's entrance.
Once inside, heads were stooped and shoulders hunched as we progressed at a 90-degree angle to the tunnel's roof, feeling our way along the pick-marked interiors and discovering along our journey an eclectic array of art on the tunnel's walls.
With the aid of phone torches, we found steady footing and settled into single-file, bear hunt formation.
Once we reached the light at the end of the tunnel, a final scramble on our hands and knees ensued before we could inhale the valley's fresh air once more and bask in the river-side views.
Central Hawke's Bay mayor Alex Walker commended our exploratory endeavours, saying: "You have found one of our many hidden gems in Central Hawke's Bay. The story of this tunnel is fascinating and is part of a long history of the connection our people have with water."
Reporter Shea Jefferson at the tunnel's end with the only beer found on the bear hunt. Photos / Paul Taylor
Harding said it was "a nice thought" that the tunnel could be a contribution to the community and that "the legacy of our family is being looked after".
"A lot of people don't know it's there but they will now."
