2 April 2008

Chateau Mosquito Track

page 4

I looked all around but couldn't see any parent tree, and this was the only young kohekohe I saw all along the track. Just how important birds are to the continued vitality of our native bush is hard to imagine.

Here's a punga in a grass skirt.

We're still heading downwards quite markedly but when I say a "generous" track, this is the kind of thing I'm talking about.

A young lancewood bristles beside the track.

Rewarewa are increasingly common and the dead leaves along the way show them to be an important part of the canopy.

and the first, quite subtle, steps make their appearance.

Here and there young rimu introduce their particular shade of lucid green into the picture.

We're now heading down quite steeply, but the track is still "generous".

Cabbage tree leaves? Not quite...

A very large Dr Seuss tree overhangs the track.

And quite steadily now the track heads on downwards in a fashion I've never been able to convey accurately in a photo.

The beginninof a "dry" section of track, and we start to see more rangiora and tree daisy.

Here we get a fine view up the valley that services our stream.

Holy hell, there's still a LONG way down before we reach the stream. I take a reflective swig from my water bottle, and check my legs for the anticipated trip back up. Onwards.

Across the valley a group of punga make a fine picture.

Here's an opaque berried mingimingi. these berries come in all shades from white to crimson. This species likes the slightly harsher environments. The bigger leaved species has translucent scarlet berries.

These berries are alleged in one of those "Isn't nature wonderful!" books that smother the shelves of Paper Plus and Whitcoulls to be edible. Well, perhaps they're not poisonous, but neither are they at all palatable. Take your lunch with you into the bush. Always.