Edwin Blake came to Otago in 1861 and moved to Christchurch in 1863. The West Coast Gold Rush necessitated overland connections between Christchurch and the West Coast. Early in 1865, the Blake brothers had a contract with the Canterbury Provincial Council to improve the track over Harper Pass, the high pass connecting the Hurunui and Taramakau Rivers. This contract was completed by April of that year, and Walter Blake was then put in charge of sections of the dray road built over Arthur's Pass, but the contract was soon assigned to Edwin Blake. One of the sections was adjacent to Lake Brunner, at the time still part of the route to the West Coast. This was soon superseded by a more direct route built by Walter Blake that followed the Taramakau River. Edwin Blake was then commissioned to widen the track through the Otira Valley down to the Taipo River. When the road construction projects were completed, Blake settled on the West Coast.