Washpen Falls

What a day, spent with friends on the Washpen Falls Track!

The track is an hour's drive from Christchurch, in the Canterbury Foothills.  It is a private track on a back country working farm, through which the two hour loop track has been created.  It passes through an ancient volcanic canyon, now full of native bush and amazing birdsong.

The Washpen Falls are a highlight.  They are situated at the headwaters of Washpen Creek, which gained its name because the first European farmers thought the wool would sell better in England if it was washed before being shorn off the sheep.  So the creek was dammed and the poor sheep were washed, hence the name 'Washpen'.