Zealandia – Fuschia Loop

30 September 2015
Just Me
4.59km, 1hr18min, total gain 184m, Visitor Centre to Visitor Centre

After many a time walking the main tracks of the valley, and dozens of trips up to the Upper Dam, with some free time up my sleeve I wanted to get really exploring the Valley. So a dream to walk every track on offer came to mind.

I started with what turned out to be the easiest loop – the Fuschia Loop. This track is designed to be walked as a loop, rather than as a there-and-back, or connecting to another track via the fenceline clearway.

On my way in, once I got up past the Upper Dam, I debated which way to go around the loop. Eventually I opted for counter-clockwise, with a plan to pop out to the end of the short Campbell Street Track while I was there.

The climb was moderate, but reasonably gradual, and all wonderfully shaded. Suddenly I came across a sign indicating it was 100m distance to the fence, as an optional side track, so I dumped my pack and took just my camera and myself up. The distance suggestion seemed way out of whack – I’m sure it was further than that.

Anyway, the VIEW from the top of the Fuschia Loop was INCREDIBLE – although the best spot to admire it from is about 50m along the fence back towards the visitor centre. Once I have completed my mission to walk all the tracks this is one I will certainly come back to. It is easily the best view out of the sanctuary I have found, as the fence doesn’t block the view like it does in other places. I could have sat there for ages if I hadn’t left my pack with my food and water back down the hill.

Back in the bush I got spotted by a kaka, that I gather may have been guarding a nest, as it followed me VERY closely as I continued down the track – never letting me get out of its sight for a good couple of hundred meters. Every time I got more than a dozen steps past it, it would fly over or around me and land just ahead of me. What an experience.

The track popped back out not far from where it had started. The track out to the fenceline at Campbell Street was flat (it was a bullock track back when there was mining and the dam was full) and short – only worth doing so I could say I had done it.

My return to the visitor centre was uneventful. To make things a little different I went across the dam and back along the tracks on the other side of the valley for a while as I headed back to the main path.

Definitely a highly recommended loop. I saw absolutely no-one in the half hour or so I was away from the main track, and it’s a great start to getting out into the “back” of the valley.