Back then, the easiest way for bullock teams to travel overland between Matanaka and Dunedin was over the tussock-covered ridges, including Swampy Summit and Flagstaff, descending down to what is now the suburb of Halfway Bush.
A bulldozed fire break (erroneously called "Rollinsons Rd" on Google Maps) now follows some of the route. Richard Pettinger, of the Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club, recalls traces of the old bullock trail being pointed out to him when he was young.
Located about 450m northeast of Flagstaff summit and having undergone more than 150 years of weathering, the historic trail is increasingly obscured with broom bushes and it is hard to make out.
"But you can almost see the wheel ruts of where the wagons came over," he says.
