"Water Wood" is a history of the park, written by Council citywide park ranger Ian Surgenor, who has been based at Bottle Lake for more than 10 years.

He says the book started off as a rainy day job and became a labour of love.

It took him eight years to do the research.

In that time he built up contacts and learnt a lot about the characters of the forest - bushmen and timber workers.

Each chapter of the book is a story in itself, covering topics such as pre-European history; times when the military was present; the sawmill that operated for about 40 years, and conservation work that has been done to save the sand dunes.

Christchurch City Council became involved in Bottle Lake in the 1870s when the land was a farm.

The Council decided to establish a forest to protect the sand dunes - and because forestry was taking off as an industry.

"Water Wood the story of Bottle Lake Forest Park" is a soft cover book containing mostly black and white historical photographs.

It has been financed by the Council and published by Rainbow Print.