Wonders of the Roxburgh Gorge

Before the Roxburgh dam was commissioned in 1956, the 30 km Roxburgh Gorge was up to 400 metres deep, and so narrow that in places its towering walls rose vertically above the boiling waters of the Clutha Mata-Au. The river was so constricted that it flowed as swiftly as 40 kilometres an hour through narrow chutes hundreds of metres long. In other sections the current slowed - but not much, flowing over landslide obstructions that had at one time dammed the gorge, before being overtopped by massive rapids. Today's sedate current bears no resemblance to the powerful torrent that once echoed through the gorge, drowning out the voices of men.

The first feature of the gorge, 675 metres below the Manuherikia confluence, was a constriction formed by schist bluffs on both sides that reduced the width to just 39 metres. This is now known as the "Italian Bend," but the early gold-miners called this the "Gates of the Gorge." Foot-tracks were etched precariously along the steep and boulder-tumbled walls of the gorge on both sides, as the miners hunted up gold and dug cave-like shelters under large slabs of fallen schist.

"Gates of the Gorge" below Manuherikia Confluence

Just over five kilometres down the gorge from the "Gates," and nearly two kilometres beyond Butcher's Point, the true left wall of the gorge had long ago collapsed, blocking the river. The resulting over-topping waters had cut through the obstruction with unimaginable force, forming a torrential rapid that had over time, at its foot, scoured out a large, amphitheatre-like basin within high walls of unstable rock. This rapid, descending through a narrow chasm, was known as the "Golden Falls." It filled the "Narrows" with a crashing din so loud that shouting men could not hear each other. In the centre of this basin below the rapid, the deeply driving waters had pushed up a shingle island. Hence, the name "Island Basin." The Golden Falls and Island Basin were astonishing features in a remarkably dramatic location.

The Golden Falls entering Island Basin


View of Island Basin and Landslide Face

Beyond Island Basin at Doctor’s Point, two powerful rapids known as Doctor’s Falls No 1 & 2 dropped through a boulder strewn constriction below a maze of gold workings, stone cottages and cave shelters etched into the true-left side of the gorge.

Nearly two kilometres below Doctor's Point, the river again met a sudden obstruction. A huge schist slab had slid down from the true left into the river, against which river-borne shingle and boulders had jammed up, creating a rapid so tumultuous that the gold-miners called it the Molyneux Falls. Here was a ferocious whitewater descent, tumbling violently some four-metres down a twenty-metre section of boulders, at breathtaking speed. At normal or low flow, these falls were deadly. In high flow they were somewhat washed out, but still incredibly swift.

Molyneux Falls

The gold-miners, dreaming of lowering the river above the falls to expose gold, tried several times to blast the huge thirty by twelve metre schist slab that lay at the head of the Molyneux Falls. But time and again the slab didn't move. Drilling and blasting merely succeeded in cracking the slab, so that it settled into place even more.

Further down the gorge, other rapids also raced through narrow chutes, until finally, at the southern end of the gorge, after boiling through massive eddies near McKenzie's Beach, the current eased slightly as it passed another bluff at Coal Creek - a site selected for the construction of the Roxburgh dam in 1947.

It is worth remembering that the wonderful features of the old Roxburgh Gorge were never physically destroyed prior to the filling of the Roxburgh reservoir. They were flooded, and now lie mothballed in silt. Given the limited lifespan of the ageing Roxburgh dam, and the silting, flooding and instability issues of the gorge, there is an ever-growing case for dam decommissioning and gorge restoration.

Inevitably, some time in the future, the largest high volume rapids in New Zealand - the once thunderous Golden and Molyneux Falls, will be re-born. Gradually, decades of trapped sediment will be stripped away, and the long-hidden wonders of the Roxburgh Gorge will be revealed.

McKenzie's Beach left foreground, Coal Creek bluff dam site distant right

Deadman's Point Bridge

Deadman's Point Footbridge (second), 1926, by Albert Percy Godber.

Deadman's Point holds a unique place in the history of the Clutha River, and of the Lowburn / Cromwell area. Here, the full force of the river suddenly converged into a narrow chasm at the beginning of the infamous Cromwell 'Gap'. Here, the first bridge spanned the river, and here countless gold-miners crossed and re-crossed en-route to their diggings, witnessing raging floods, and occasionally death in the vortexing waters of the 'Point'.

The first bridge across the Clutha River was erected at Deadman's Point by Henry Hill and opened in May, 1863. It was a footbridge suitable for packhorses, and it provided the shortest route for gold-miners heading to the strike on the Arrow River, which was then accessed via the Cardrona Valley. Prior to this bridge, gold-miners would continue upriver to Sandy Point, where they could cross on a ferry established by George Hassing and William Ellacott in March, 1863.

"The connection between Cromwell and the country lower down the Clutha River, was a pack-bridge erected over that river by Mr. Henry Hill. Wagons with stores and goods had to unload, and everything was packed across on horses." - Past & Present, and Men of the Times, by Captain William Jackson. Barry.

Hill's bridge, however, was swept away that Spring by a devastating flood that ripped away riverbanks, mining-camps, and buildings along the length of the river, claiming over a hundred lives.

The Second Deadman's Point Bridge In Flood.

The Deadman's Point footbridge was eventually replaced (date unknown) by a well-built structure that survived subsequent floods. Although the footbridge was sited at the narrowest part of the river between Lowburn and Cromwell, the massive new traffic bridge, opened in 1866, was located at the Cromwell Junction directly adjoining Cromwell's main street, in order to facilitate traffic through the town.

The footbridge at Deadman's Point provided convenient foot and horse access to the diggings at Quartz Reef Point and Bendigo well into the 20th century.

Just how Deadman's Point acquired its name is unknown, but as the river at this point converged into a narrow precipitous 'gap' and surged with immense speed down a series of rapids to the Junction at Cromwell, it is likely that it was considered a 'point of no return'.

The reputation of the river was formidable, due in no small part to the perilous experiences of the log-raftsmen on the Upper Clutha. The log-rafting enterprise was started in 1862 by George Hassing and Henry Hill to supply much-needed lumber from the western forests to the virtually treeless interior. The first log-raft to negotiate the river as far as Clyde (Dunstan) arrived on October 6th, 1862.

"It was decided not to try and negotiate the gorge with these craft. They were navigated to a landing-place between Lowburn and Cromwell, but it was frequently a most difficult procedure to catch the landing-place. Once past it, there was absolutely no choice but to allow the raft to shoot through the roaring, rocky gorge above Cromwell. The raftsman had the alternative of either abandoning ship or of taking his chance aboard his craft. One man known as the Boatswain, having been caught in this predicament, took the consequences of remaining at the tiller. His raft, after entering the gorge, turned a complete somersault. He managed to climb aboard again and bring it into an eddy near the Kawarau Junction, where he was secured by a shore man - very wet, but grateful that he had escaped unhurt." - The Wanaka Story, by Irvine Roxburgh.

 

The Cromwell Gap, 1977, by Robin Morrison.

The Deadman's Point footbridge had always provided the most direct access to Bendigo, but only for travellers on foot or horseback. Obviously, the new 1866 traffic bridge at Cromwell provided access for wagons and later motor vehicles, and in 1938 when the new concrete bridge was opened at Lowburn, the old footbridge at the 'Point' was used even less.

By the 1970s the footbridge was gone, and the Clutha River was the focus of evermore speculation over future dams. During the following decades, hydro plans came and went, but almost all of them doomed the productive river flats around Lowburn to inundation. The eventual plan included the destruction of old Cromwell and the construction of new roads, and a new bridge, at Deadman's Point. In a bitter twist of fate, the towering columns of the new bridge rose above the site of the original footbridge, connecting the new Cromwell centre with the east side of the gorge.

The 'New' Deadman's Point Bridge, before the 'Point' was flooded, circa 1990.

Remarkably, Deadman's Point was not physically destroyed during the construction of the bridge. In the future, when the reservoir is decommissioned (it was planned to last 80 years) the 'Point' should be easily revealed when de-silted. By comparison, the distinctive Cromwell Junction, which was almost obliterated by earth-moving machinery prior to the filling of the reservoir, will be difficult to restore.

The 'New' Deadman's Point Bridge, after reservoir filling.

Today, the 'new' Deadman's Point bridge stands high above the flooded 'Point', and few people who drive over it realize the significance of either the name, or the location.