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Korowai - Torlesse Tussocklands Park
Description
NameKorowai - Torlesse Tussocklands Park
DescriptionKorowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park covers approximately 21,000 hectares centred on the Torlesse and Big Ben Ranges, in Canterbury’s high country. The Torlesse and Big Ben Ranges and the Torlesse Gap are features on the landscape that can be seen from as far away as Christchurch and the Port Hills. Travellers on the Great Alpine Highway (SH 73) between Christchurch and the West Coast gain an increasingly panoramic view of the park as they approach Porters Pass. Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park is a key site for the promotion and protection of eastern South Island high-country landscapes and ecosystems.
From very early times, the area has held special
significance for the first occupants the Waitaha, and through many generations to present day Ngāi Tahu. The dual name indicates the importance of the area to our local and national culture. Korowai (cloak) is symbolic of concepts such as embracement,
collectiveness, togetherness and prestige. It recognises the historic connections the Ngāi Tahu tupuna (ancestor) Tanetiki had with the area. The basins and ranges were an integral part of a network of trails, which were used to ensure the safest
seasonal journeys and best access to mahinga kai (food-gathering places).
Charles Torlesse, a surveyor for the Canterbury provincial government, led by local Māori guides in January 1849, was the first European to climb the slopes of the range.
A few men with picks, shovels and a government grant
of 500 pounds, made the first track over Porters Pass in 1858–9. The original (Cobb and Co. Coaches) road is still visible within the conservation park boundaries. Other historic European sites within the park include the old pack track used by the Porter brothers, Avoca Homestead (1906) and the Mt Torlesse Colleries Coal Mines, which operated from 1918 to 1927.
(Description source: Department of Conservation Leaflet 'Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park' 'https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/canterbury/waimakariri/korowai-torlesse.pdf) Accessed 18.01.2023
Geolocation[1]

From very early times, the area has held special
significance for the first occupants the Waitaha, and through many generations to present day Ngāi Tahu. The dual name indicates the importance of the area to our local and national culture. Korowai (cloak) is symbolic of concepts such as embracement,
collectiveness, togetherness and prestige. It recognises the historic connections the Ngāi Tahu tupuna (ancestor) Tanetiki had with the area. The basins and ranges were an integral part of a network of trails, which were used to ensure the safest
seasonal journeys and best access to mahinga kai (food-gathering places).
Charles Torlesse, a surveyor for the Canterbury provincial government, led by local Māori guides in January 1849, was the first European to climb the slopes of the range.
A few men with picks, shovels and a government grant
of 500 pounds, made the first track over Porters Pass in 1858–9. The original (Cobb and Co. Coaches) road is still visible within the conservation park boundaries. Other historic European sites within the park include the old pack track used by the Porter brothers, Avoca Homestead (1906) and the Mt Torlesse Colleries Coal Mines, which operated from 1918 to 1927.
(Description source: Department of Conservation Leaflet 'Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park' 'https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/canterbury/waimakariri/korowai-torlesse.pdf) Accessed 18.01.2023

Korowai - Torlesse Tussocklands Park. Selwyn Stories, accessed 17/02/2025, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/5175