Harts Creek - Harts Creek

Nice short walk. Great for kids, and enough in 32°C heat. Very sheltered so no cooling breeze. Birds in the wetlands and ducks and swans in the creek.

One of our favourite short walks.

Great short walk for young kids. Lots of trout for them to spot in the creek. Great birdlife too (heaps of fantails).

Excellent short walk through beautiful wetlands. It's a bit boggy in the winter. The day we walked in the last hundred metres to the bird hide was flooded. But still a worthwhile wander beside the creek.

Nice short walk, family friendly

Harts Creek is a fantastic spot. 20 - 30 minutes walk to the bird hide mostly alongside Hart Creek which is a beautiful creek teeming with birds and trout and wildlife with a short platform boardwalk at the end to the bird hide on Ellesmere Lake. Thoroughly recommend for all families.

This lake is the fifth largest lake in New Zealand. It has national and international importance for waders and wetland birds. If you are an avid bird-watcher, it ranks as New Zealand's largest site for both the number of species recorded and the highest number of wetland birds. Once a rare visitor here, large flocks of royal spoonbills are now frequent visitors to Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere. The royal spoonbills frequenting New Zealand are one of six spoonbill species worldwide, and the only one that breeds in New Zealand. According to research by academics at the University of Exeter, the British Trust for Ornithology (another advantage of being an avid bird-watcher), it is good for your mental health and well-being. "People living in neighbourhoods with more birds, shrubs and trees are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and stress." NZ ranks globally, as the 13th highest in the world for mental depression. You also have opportunity to evaluate whether our ecosystems are healthy or not, according to the species of birds that inhabit and pass through. New Zealand is the land of "milk and honey" and the $15 billion dairy industry is New Zealand's largest export. Irrigation accounts for 75 percent of the water taken from New Zealand's waterways, and of that figure a staggering 63 percent is taken from Canterbury. Nitrate fertiliser speeds up plant growth - and is used in intensive dairy farming systems. I do not begrudge the farmers. It is, what it is. I just like science to speak "the truth" and uncover the facts. Bowel cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand. New Zealand also has one of the highest colorectal cancer rates in the world and we also have very high nitrate concentrations in our drinking water. Canterbury’s Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, is one of the country’s most polluted lakes. The lake is periodically opened to the sea, to stop flooding of the surrounding land, much of it farmland, and to allow fish passage. The resulting churn of green, soupy water flows into the Pacific Ocean. A lot of it is agricultural contaminants, such as nitrates and phosphorus. Canterbury DHB’s Community and Public Health unit has lifted its algal bloom health warning issued for Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere in August 2021. It is now monitored monthly, as not all cyanobacterial blooms are visible to the naked eye and toxins can persist after the blooms. If a health warning is in place avoid contact with the water.If a warning is in place, people and animals should not drink or touch the water from the lake at any time. Exposure to an algal bloom can cause skin rashes, nausea, stomach cramps, tingling and numbness around the mouth and fingertips. Basically, it will kill you.

Small track although quite narrow in some places. We managed to see a few ducks and trouts along the way. Kids can walk but there are a few hazards (electric fence and water) in the track. There's a picnic area straight away but there's just one table making it close to impossible to use except when no one else is there.