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Bullock Creek is a pure, spring fed creek, bubbling out of the ground in the hatchery reserve and flowing through the township of Wanaka, before entering Lake Wanaka right in the centre of town. To have such a clean, beautiful creek running through town is an asset for us all to treasure.

Bullock Creek was the site of a Fish & Game hatchery, where trout were raised to be released into the surrounding areas. Fish would also swim up the creek in order to mate and lay eggs in the clean gravel creek bed.

A great find by Fish & Game’s Paul Van Klink, a native fish species Koaro was discovered during a survey on the fish species that live in Bullock Creek. Preferring damp conditions and normally found in catchments featuring native bush this discovery is further motivation to maintain the creeks purity and continue to plant more natives in order for these little guys to thrive.

With the scrub cleared in go the natives!

Roger Gardiner and his keen group of community service workers and volunteers have added an extension to the board walk, including a large platform. This will give a great view over the reserve and be perfect for many uses ranging from al fresco meetings to yoga!

The Bullock Creek reserve backs onto Elmslie House and the Wanaka Retirement Village and provides a lovely green space for the residents to enjoy the sun and stretch their legs.

One of the biggest challenges for the project has been the removal of exotic flora, with pussy willow, cotoneaster and wide spread blackberry bramble clogging the creek banks and smothering native species. By clearing small sections we can then replant them with natives to better project creek flow and to return the area to a more natural state.

The boardwalk provides great access through the hatchery reserve, with multiple streams flowing out of the hillside, that run under the board walk and create a wetland in the foreground, before joining with the main Bullock Creek stream.

The creek is home to many edible plants, including abundant watercress.

Jeremy Van Riel performing a Maori blessing at the opening of the Bullock Creek boardwalk in 2018. It was great to see such a large turn out from the community pleased to be able to use the boardwalk to stroll through the reserve. A big thanks to all those who contributed dollars and work to help build this amazing community asset.

Bullock Creek picks up many small feeder streams on its journey to the lake and creates a wetland area right in town. The local farmers market sits beside it with the creek drawing people in to spot fish, buy goods or simply wander along its banks.

We’ve had a fair amount of rain over the past couple of days, but it was not a 1:100 year event by a long chalk

The level of the storm water pond is lowered occasionally by pumping the water along to the Triton Arches below Alpha Ridge.

Note the level of detritus on the fence

The creek is discoloured with silt settling where the trout spawn.

It wasn't just rainwater, it was storm-water with contaminants such as industrial waste which flowed into the Wetlands on the evening of the 6th of July 21

This photo was taken on the 7th of July