The Meurky Walk /
The story and the man behind Christchurch’s 360 Trail
Where in the world can you find prehistoric wetlands, saltwater marshes, ancient forests, breathtaking harbour views, old and new coastal dunes, incredible drylands and alpine vistas, all on one walk? The answer is in Christchurch. However, many Cantabrians are unaware of the wonder of the 360 Trail on their doorstep.
COLIN MEURK IS A MAN IN LOVE. I SEE IT IN HIS
eyes; hear it in his voice. At 74 years of age, he has lost none of the zeal that has fuelled his work for over 50 years. He adores the Canterbury environment, and that passion has led him to spend the last 30 years battling to preserve it and make it accessible to everyone.
A softly spoken environmental campaigner, Colin has self-deprecating humour and a friendly manner. Born in Masterton, his family moved to New Brighton in Christchurch when he was six years old. ‘I have this abiding memory of travelling by tram into the city over the Pages
Road bridge and looking out across lumpy shrubland of saltmarsh ribbonwood. This memory from almost 70 years ago makes me smile because the area, which became the Bexley housing development, is returning to the way it was back then.’
Colin’s love of ecology took him to Canterbury University in 1966 to study for a BSc (Hons) in Botany and Zoology. From there, he went to Otago University and gained his PhD in Alpine Ecology in 1981. ‘I’m a baby boomer. Dunedin during the ’70s was a hotbed of political, environmental and socially progressive ideas. When I settled in Christchurch in the early 1980s, I read an article in the newspaper about Rakiihia Tau, Ūpoko Ngāi Tūāhuriri, restoring the nature and culture around Kaiapoi’s Pā. I contacted him and got involved.’
Colin is a big-picture thinker who has travelled overseas and experienced some iconic walks. ‘Christchurch had all the ingredients for developing a world-class walking experience reminiscent of those in Europe and the States. I’d walked the Pennine Way in England, and I knew of the El Camino and the Appalachian Trail. I saw the possibility of connecting all the areas of diverse ecology to create a fabulous experience. My proposed Perimeter Walk, as it was initially called, was unique in New Zealand. There weren’t New Zealand Great Walks back then, but what we aimed to achieve was essentially an urban Great Walk.’
In 1991, using his prodigious networking skills, Colin organised a meeting at Orana Park to discuss the idea. He invited key people, including Rakiihia Tau, Professor Kevin O’Connor (a renowned Lincoln University academic) and conservation groups. Colin’s immediate motivation for the walk was the protection of the north-western McLeans Island native grasslands and other threatened habitats. ‘Quite the antithesis of the wetland were the under-valued drylands. The Canterbury Plains were a New Zealand epicentre of dryland plant communities before irrigation. The Perimeter Walk connected all these proposed reserves to celebrate their underappreciated ecological diversity. The walk incorporated the Port Hills, estuary, coastal dunes, freshwater wetlands, Bottle Lake pines, dry plains grasslands, braided and spring rivers, bushy hills, and a remnant of old-growth forest. I saw that
this trail would embrace and encompass the amazing places in the city that even people who have lived here all their lives didn’t know about. I could imagine it like those overseas pilgrimages. It had the potential to raise Christchurch’s profile as a tourist destination.’
Fast-forward a few years, and in the late ’90s, Forest & Bird contacted Colin, offering help. ‘They loved the concept of the walk and said, “Okay. Let’s make this happen.” They advertised guided Meurky Walks every couple of months in their newsletter. I led the outings, and we did a six to seven kilometre stretch. Over about 10 years, we walked our way around the 140 km city circuit four times.
‘It was such a wonderful period, and I built great relationships. One couple, who lived out Oxford way, kindly knitted me a pair of socks for the walk. Tiny acts like that build up a sense of camaraderie. Meanwhile, I was making submissions to the City Council to designate it as the 360 Trail. We wanted to market it internationally as one of New Zealand’s Great Walks. I thought, why should the Great Walks all be in mountainous national parks? This has all the credentials: amazing panoramas and vistas and an incredible diversity of habitats. There are as many native plants growing wild in Christchurch as there are in any national park. In 2015, Vicki Buck, Te Marino Lenihan (Ngāi Tūāhuriri), and the Head of Rotary New Zealand, officially launched the 360 Trail at The Walking Festival.’
Colin continues to push for full recognition of the walk as two small sections are still in contention; a stretch through coastal bush between the estuary and oxidation ponds, and a few kilometres of private land at Clearwater. These obstacles have held up fully promoting the walk for a decade as it cannot yet be signed off. Colin is at pains to point out that even with these issues many hundreds of people have walked or cycled the trail. It can be split into eight or 12 sections, so it ’s possible to walk the whole circle in a year of monthly rambles. However, two people did run it recently in just over 24 hours. The 360 Trail website shows all the maps and information.
Despite ‘can’t do’ bureaucracy and naysayers who have hindered the project, Colin hasn’t given up honouring the thousands of 360 Trail supporters he encounters. ‘I keep going because it’s important we provide these inspirational, informative experiences of Ōtautahi. I want people to engage and develop an awareness and understanding of nature.
We’ve seen what happened in Wellington with Zealandia and Dunedin with Orokonui. When the public has a chance to visit these amazing environments, it’s transformational. It generates a deep desire for more.’ His eyes twinkle. ‘Then people fall in love with the natural environment. Now that’s worth fighting for.’
‘I thought, why should the Great Walks all be in mountainous national parks? This has all the credentials: amazing panoramas and vistas and an incredible diversity of habitats.’