Kakanui trailmaker earns Outdoor Access Champion Award

A decade of work by a Kakanui resident has given walkers and nature lovers a beautiful new coastal circuit — and earned its creator national recognition.

Chris Barnes has been named an Outdoor Access Champion by the Outdoor Access Commission for his work creating a walking track along the stunning northern coastal cliffs between the village of Kakanui and Catseye Point, a Department of Conservation reserve on the North Otago coast.

The track follows an unformed legal road that had been inaccessible for many years. Connecting it to the road required a strip of Chris’s own land, which he contributed to the project. The result is a well-signposted, mown path — around 1.5 to 2 metres wide — that affords views of dramatic northern coastal cliffs and allows walkers to complete a circuit from the village to the headland and back along Kakanui Beach.

Chris worked with other willing landowners and residents to build the track.

Opening the track has also allowed the Kakanui coastal predator trapline to be extended to the clifftops, helping protect the gull and shag nesting sites that line the route.

Chris was nominated for the award by John Chetwin of the North Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club. John says, “Chris’s vision, planning ability and energy, as well as some of his own land, have created a valuable resource for walkers and nature lovers living in or visiting Kakanui.”

Outdoor Access Champion Chief Executive Dan Wildy wrote to Chris to congratulate him, noting that the award recognised his work: “Your efforts have created opportunities for everyone to access and enjoy the natural environment.”