Edwin Mitchelson Track page 2

The track now widens. I'm not sure of it's origins but it looks as though it has been built originally for vehicle access.

The bush has regenerated sufficiently to shade the track, and the banks are rich with ferns and small shrubs.

Up above us, pohutukawas have taken over from manuka and kanuka

The track continues upwards, and the cliffs are beginning to tower over us.

Pohutukawa gives way to pine

A small pseudopanax species glows by the side of the path. It looks like a lancewood except that the lancewood juvenile leaves are extremely long and thin and saw toothed.

A cliff is a cliff. I've never seen one without carving. I wonder if it's similar to dog behaviour where the top dog is the one that marks highest up the pole.

Hang on.... Might not even be a guy who did it.

There's a heap of rocks by the edge of the track.

A look upstairs suggests the path has its moments.

The track heads quietly upwards

As we get further up, rangiora become more common, their flowers now withered and brown.

A small creeper with a heart-shaped leaf is everywhere, and so far I haven't a name for this either. I think it is a native but I'm not sure.

The cliff changes as we climb, and there appear to be soft and hard layers that have been worn away at different rates

Here we are at the top.

If you're looking from Oaia Rd, this is what you'll see, just after #243, I think.

We head down again with the mist steadily thickening into a fine damp drizzle.

There's a healthy looking kawakawa by the side of the track.It's managed to avoid being eaten by whatever turns most kawakawa leaves into patterns of lacework.

A leaf of this in a cup of boiling water makes a very refreshing drink.

There's a very loud tui, or several of them, calling all along the track and they prompt Alice into listening mode.

The drizzle is becoming more intense so I pack away the camera until we get back to base.

Miranda is still just across the road, but interruption is not indicated, so Alice and I head back home to look at the pictures. Alice has been doing about ten metres for every one of mine, and she is happy to snooze all the way back.