Parks, Gardens and Zoos • History • Nature
Hump Ridge Great Walk
In March 2023 Story Inc started work with the Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai on visitor experience and interpretation elements for the country’s newest “Great Walk” at Hump Ridge in western Southland.
In te ao Māori, the Māori world, Hump Ridge is Ōkaka: the frozen form one of three great ocean waves that capsized the ancestral waka (canoe) Takitimu.
Client
Location
Completed
Department of Conservation
Rowallen, Tuatapere, Aotearoa New Zealand
Opened in October 2024
See what the beach used to be like back when Port Craig was a running sawmill. Photo: Andy Shaw
Waitutu Forest panel, part of the Nature and Conservation story. Photo: Andy Shaw
A pillar style sign to introduce the Tram Line Junction. Photo: Andy Shaw
Blacksmiths were a very important part of life at Port Craig. Photo: Andy Shaw
See how far you have climbed at the lookout! Photo: Andy Shaw
Learn about the importance of Raukiokio to Ngāi Tahu Māori during Māhika Kai. Photo: Andy Shaw
Touch panels are spread throughout the walk for important fauna. Photo: Andy Shaw
The Project
Hump Ridge is near the small town of Tuatapere in New Zealand’s southwesternmost corner. It is an area of great historic, cultural, and environmental significance.
The environment down here at the edge of the world is harsh. The area has no roads and and is covered in dense native bush, home to many species of native flora and fauna. For many centuries, the area was traversed by Māori as part of māhika kai (journeys for resources), drawn by the abundance of kai moana and birdlife. In the 1920s, a sawmilling town was created at Port Craig, but it closed after only a few years.
The track was created by the Tuatapere community in the 1980s to bring tourists to the area and create jobs, after local timber mills were shut down. The Tuatapere Charitable Trust, made up of local volunteers, built the track in 1988, opened it to the public in 2001, and continues to maintain it to this day.
3D bronze map with patina at the start of the track.
The Hump Ridge Great Walk is an opportunity to tell many different stories about the land and the various conservation efforts to protect and preserve it - insights into the past and actions for the future. The connectedness of people, plants, animals, and the land is a theme of the experience. The interpretation encourages visitors to reflect on this throughout their journey.
The aim was for the trackside interpretation to be relatively limited, light, and “digestible”. The track is tough going in places and we were aware visitors would be tired! However, we did also create opportunities for visitors to dig deeper and discover more with “lodge books” at the accommodation at Ōkaka (near the top of the ridge) and Port Craig.
Waiting for the helicopter ride up to Hump Ridge!
The Process
Story Inc worked closely with our DOC clients to bring out the key stories and themes of the project. We also worked with local sculptor Steve Solomon, a member of the local Māori runaka, who had a separate piece of work creating a waharoa (gateway) at the start of the track. Steve helped us develop a graphic style that connected different themes of the experience, including a wave motif which was incorporated throughout.
The narrative journey is told through three key themes: culture and land ownership, nature and conservation, and community and heritage. Each theme had its own iconography and colours, but the stories were also unified in graphic style and typography.
Mapping and measuring where signs could go.
The interpretation ranged in approach and consisted of:
X1 Mounted railing panel
X4 Panels mounted to existing shelters
X9 Freestanding panels, 3 panels with tactile plaques
X4 Freestanding pillars, 1 panel with a tactile plaque
X1 Wayfinding Fingerpost
X4 Directional signs
X2 Steel overlay illustration panels (‘Then and Nows’)
X7 Life-size silhouette figures
X1 3D bronze map
X1 Stoat trap interactive display
X2 Lodge Books: x6 books and x2 boxes to hold
Silhouette of a teacher and some students made from corten steel. Photo: Andy Shaw
Welcome to Port Craig! Photo: Andy Shaw
Port Craig Map illustrated by Andy Shaw. Photo: Andy Shaw
The white 'ghost' lines indicate how Port Craig used to look when it was a bustling sawmill. Photo: Andy Shaw
Life size corten steel silhouette of a baker at Port Craig. Photo: Andy Shaw
Another look into the past to see the tramway and the old school. Photo: Andy Shaw
Learn about the tīpuna that used this track as a rest stop on their journeys. Photo: Andy Shaw
Life size silhouette of a sawmill worker. Photo: Andy Shaw
Life size silhouette of a Lidgerwood hauler operator. Photo: Andy Shaw
Another sign with touch panels showing the importance of Te Waewae Bay Marine Mammal Sanctuary. Photo: Andy Shaw
The result is an experience that complements a beautiful environment without over-imposing on it, and supplies some of the “missing stories”, giving context to the history and future of the people and the place.
Please go see it for yourself!
Before crossing the Percy Burn Viaduct, learn about its history. Photo: Andy Shaw
The Result
Credits
3D maps and tactile plaques
Graphics Printing
DAC Group
Silhouette engineering
and review
Lodge Book fabrication
Illustration
Graphic Design
Writer
Steve Solomon
Consultation
and Wave design
Scale Studios
King and Dawson
Fabrication
The Bookbindery
Anderson Design
Andy Shaw
Jo Duff
Jenny Bornholdt