Harwoods Hole

Harwoods Hole is a tomo - a vertical shaft dissolved through the marble of Takaka Hill - and at 183 metres it is the deepest of its kind in New Zealand. The walk from the Canaan Downs car park, on a track the Department of Conservation no longer marks or maintains, is about forty-five minutes each way through beech forest and then over a boulder field to the rim. This is where honesty matters more than description: there is no fence, no platform and no railing at the top. The approach over the boulders is loose and awkward, the edge is a straight drop into darkness. You do not see the bottom - you see a black hole and the far wall. There is no way down for anyone who is not a roped caver; the shaft is a serious technical descent used by experienced groups. A separate short side track from the same route leads to the Gorge Creek lookout, which gives a view into the valley system and is safer ground.

History

Henry Harwood (1844-1927), with John Horton and Thomas Manson, opened up the Canaan Downs area and found the hole, but it was not entered until the summer of 1958-59, when seven cavers lowered the first man down on 28 December 1958 with a home-built winch. The next summer cavers traced its stream with green dye to Starlight Cave, where The Gorge Creek emerges (Wikipedia, Harwoods Hole).

The landscape

• The shaft mouth - a 183-metre drop, unfenced, from a boulder rim.
• The boulder field - the loose approach over the last stretch.
• The beech forest - the first half of the walk in.
• The Gorge Creek lookout - the side track on the way back.

When to go

November to April. Dry conditions only - the boulders are treacherous when wet. Allow the full time; the boulder section is slow.

Before you go

The rim is completely unfenced, and a fall would be fatal. Do not approach the edge, and keep children close on the boulders. You cannot see the bottom. The access road is 11 km of unsealed gravel.

Nearby

Takaka Hill and the Ngarua Caves are on the road up; Golden Bay is over the hill.

Key facts