Knockin’ on heaven’s door

April 2026

Read more from

April 2026

Kea sightings in the area are on the rise. These juveniles are high on the Butler Range. Photo: Chad Cottle
Deep in the forest of South Westland there’s a suspension bridge with an odd-looking door. It looks like a portal into another world. And in some ways, at one time it was. The metal suspension bridge crosses thundering Scone Creek (‘creek’ is a bit of a misnomer on the West Coast) in remote Perth Valley. […]

About the author

Alison Hess

More From Conservation

Related Topics

Similar Articles

What to do with human waste

The social trappers

Feathered jewels of the forest

Trending Now

Green Point Hut, Gamack Conservation Area

The possibilities of packrafting

Every Tararua hut reviewed and ranked

The Tararua’s forgotten traverse

Leaning Lodge, Rock and Pillar Conservation Area

Subscribe!
Each issue of Wilderness celebrates Aotearoa’s great outdoors — written and photographed with care, not algorithms.Subscribe and help keep our wild stories alive.

Join Wilderness. You'll see more, do more and live more.

Already a subscriber?  to keep reading. Or…

34 years of inspiring New Zealanders to explore the outdoors. Don’t miss out — subscribe today.

Your subscriber-only benefits:

All this for as little as $6.75/month.

1

free articles left this month.

Already a subscriber? Login Now