The Kiwanis Club of Te Awamutu
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Ngaroto Lake Walkway
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Ngaroto is a peat lake which serves the Te Awamutu area as both a
recreational area and a natural marsh wildlife sanctuary. It can
be found a picturesque 10 minute drive to the north of Te Awamutu.
The large lake has facilities for yachting, boating, rowing and
canoeing.
Te Awamutu Kiwanis and the Ngaroto Lake walkway:
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In 1996, the Waipa District Council and the Kiwanis Club of
Te Awamutu agreed to build a raised wooden walkway through
the marsh at the upper (southern) end of Lake Ngaroto. This
will be part of a recreational and nature walk that the
Council is developing to go entirely around the lake. The
Kiwanis Club was looking for a public service project with
a high labor input that allowed all our members to get
involved.
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Max Ward (District Council Parks Manager) inspecting
the new walkway.
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(64 kB)
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View of the almost finished walkway from the eastern end.
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(39 kB)
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The District Council provided all the materials and work
was begun in November, 1996. The walkway was completed
in June, 1997. The Kiwanis Club of Te Awamutu put more
than 240 manhours into the construction project and had a
great time doing it.
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Constructing the walkway across the marsh
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The walkway has been built in sections from milled, treated
timber. To keep the walking surface a reasonable distance
above the always wet marsh grasses, each section rests on
two buoyant plastic floats. These floats are of rectangular
section and about the size of oil drums. As yet another
example of Kiwi ingenuity, the Council has managed to
purchase stable floats, suited to the purpose but inexpensive
by buying plastic doghouse blanks (i.e. before the door has
been cut out of the house). The sections are joined together
with bolted aluminum braces.
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Kiwanis working bee at the lake. In front, the black
doghouse blanks used as floats.
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View of the No. 1 bridge (still incomplete here)
from the West.
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(96 kB)
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The marsh to be crossed was about 600 meters wide and
included two drainage ditches to be bridged. It was just
possible to stand on the grasses of the marsh while working
on the walkway. However, more than one Kiwanis member
found to his discomfort that if he stood in one place for
more than a few minutes he would have marsh water flowing
over the tops of his gum boots.
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The Ngaroto marsh
The marsh through which the walkway passes is home to
several species of ducks, pukeko (the native New Zealand
swamp hen), heron and plover. The walk does not yet extend
entirely around the lake but we are hoping to help the
Waipa District Council address that problem as well. The
short walk across the floating walkway is suitable for
street shoes.
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Ngaroto walkway bridge no. 2 from the East.
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(100 kB)
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Kiwanis World President visits the Ngaroto Lake walkway
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Kiwanis World President visits Ngaroto walkway.
Photo courtesy The Te Awamutu Courier.
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(85 kB)
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On 9 April, 1997, The Kiwanis Club of Te Awamutu had the
honor to host Kiwanis World President, Jerry Christiano and
his partner, Anita at a Kiwi-style barbecue at the park at
Lake Ngaroto. Jerry and Anita and our District Governor and
his partner were able to view progress of the construction of
the walkway. The arrival of so distinguished a world
personality from so far away to view a local Te Awamutu
project prompted the local newspaper,
The Te Awamutu Courier to run the adjacent picture on
the front page on 10 April, 1997.
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Page last updated by
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(David Fentress)
on 18 September, 2011.
Your comments, questions and suggestions are welcome.