9 June 2007

Cutty Grass Track

page 2

A shaft of sunlight catches a rimu

and a little further on, a rewarewa

We've briefly left Cutty Grass Track and moved onto Ridge Rd which now heads off to the right towards Anawhata Rd. Cutty Grass Track resumes just ahead.

In a few metres, we reach a large clearing.

I wonder to myself whether there has been a house here at some time. On the other side of it, as the track leaves, there are bricks

and more indicative, perhaps, a patch of concrete.

The clearing is quite large and level, and surrounded by some relatively big trees,

one of them simply covered in kiekie.

Pittosporum tenuifolium is present on the opposite side of the clearing, and scattered here and there along the way, though not a common feature.

We head off out the other side of the clearing, back on a weathered clay surface.

I notice a host of small miro seedlings along the edge of the track, and hunt around for a parent, but none is obvious.

A young lacebark is in good health. Again it appears from time to time but is not a standout as it is on, say, the Piha Valley, where the track can sometimes be white with flowers that have dropped from the canopy

I still haven't identified this small creeper which is a pretty constant companion, especially where there is a little light to be had.

The track is changing its character, less obviously a 4WD route.