A place of concentrated beauty

A watery wander full of wonder is just minutes from town.

Sullivan’s Dam might be flattered to be compared with a concentration camp survivor’s experience of natural wonder. But this little beauty gets away with it.

Victor Frankl went into nature a few days after liberation. He describes the effect of "wide earth and sky" on his state of mind.

"At that moment there was very little of myself or the world. I had but one sentence in mind: I called to the Lord from my narrow prison, and he answered in the freedom of space." Victor dropped to his knees.

Here there’s definitely freedom of space and there’s also wide earth and sky. There’s trout fishing. There’s native bush, pine forest and grassy open spaces. Dogs can frolic (but not in the water). The rest of us can gape awonder at the freshness of living a midwinter ad break.

For all this apparent other-worldliness, we pass Sullivan’s Dam a few minutes after we leave town on the northern motorway. By biking up Leith Valley Rd, it can be reached with the enviro-smugness of emitting zilch pollution. From George St it’s 7km, accompanied by the sights and sounds of the Water of Leith winding its way down to town.

Sullivan’s Dam is set in its own little natural valley. On a calm day it’s sheltered enough for reflections straight from a 1930s Railways Department poster. The walk around the dam itself is a half hour’s 1.5km, through bush or grassy patches, or mud at times.

Partway along there’s an enticing homemade sign inviting you uphill for an adventure. For an investment of an hour or so you get a mini tramping experience to the Leith Loop lookout.

Community-minded philanthropists funded tracks in this area and there’s a quaint and quirky feel. Rock-filled steps and slanted boardwalk seem bespoke. At one stage a collective of garden gnomes, yes, garden gnomes, greets you from their forested dell.

Fallen tree and rocks need to be navigated before you emerge at the rocky lookout. There’s an instantly recognisable view over the northern motorway, complete with sound effects. After the Fiordland-lite of the bush, that’s incongruous.

Leave the lookout at its motorway end, then exit the bush at the gravel road which will lead you home.