of Burtton's Track ‘A crowd of 100 milled about, and while it waited, plied itself with morning tea - muffins, paper cups, milk, sugar and brimming tea and coffee urns laid out on trestle tables, and linen table cloths, courtesy of Palmerston North City Council. The crowd snapped up copies of Ian Argyle's new book 'Burtton's Track'. If you wanted a gink at backblocks history along the new tramping route, this booklet was a must. It was 24 pages of reminiscence of the old days, with photographs of James Burtton, the reclusive sheep farmer who'd singlehandedly carved 3 miles of dray track out of the rugged Tokomaru Valley in the 1910s, then died when his three-wire swing bridge across the Tokomaru River broke and killed him.’ … ‘"It's great news to be able to say to Kiwis - here's the great outdoors in your own back yard," said the PM, sweeping her hand towards the newly tracked forest. The new track was 16 kilometres long, she said, and it was more than that. She noted that the track was also the newest section of Te Araroa Te Araroa Trust and its seven regional trusts, said the PM, had now put in some 295 kilometres of new route,providing links between existing tracks and opening a legal thoroughfare for walkers that now stretched along 80% of the proposed route.’ … ’Then the prime minister arrived. We lit the candles on her birthday cake. She blew them out. We sang happy birthday. She said thanks very much, she'd really enjoyed the day. The new track was open. The past had been given its due. The future awaited: this new track, and soon to come, another opening at Round Hill in Southland.’